LIB RARY OF CONGRESS. 



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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



THE CAT 



A GUIDE TO 

THE CLASSIFICATION AND VARIETIES OF CATS 

AND A SHORT TREATISE UPON THEIR 

CARE, DISEASES, AND TREATMENT 



BY 



EUSH SHIPPEN HUIDEKOPER, M. D. 

VETERINARIAN (alFORT), ETC. 

AUTHOR OP THE AGE OF THE DOMESTICATED ANIMALS, 

CONTRACTION OF THE HORSE'S FOOT, IDENTIFICATION OF ANIMALS, 

ETC. 



WITH OVER THIRTY ILLUSTRATIONS 





NEW YORK 

D. APPLE TON AND COMPANY 

1895 









Copyright, 1895, 
By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. 



TO 

JOHN P. HAINES, Esq., 

President of the Americau Society for the Prevention 
of Cruelty to Animals, New York, 

i)i appreciation of Ms work, which has done so much to in- 
crease the care of the home cat and to alleviate the suf- 
ferings of the waif this book is respectfully dedicated 

BY 

THE AUTHOR. 



PREFACE. 



WHEN, a montli ago, the National Cat 
Show became an established fact, and 
inquiries were being made in regard to the 
classification and qualities of cats, I learned 
that none of the booksellers in New York had 
any literature upon the cat except a technical 
book by St. George Mivart : " The Cat : An In- 
troduction to the Study of Backboned Ani- 
mals," and the smaller book of Gordon Stables. 
I determined to prepare the present guide, 
which I present to the public interested in the 
useful stable-companion and pretty house-pet. 
Unfortunately, I was moving my office to the 
New York College of Veterinary Surgeons at 
the time, and many of my books, manuscripts, 
and personal notes were boxed up and have 
been unavailable for reference. I have drawn 



va PREFACE 

freely from tlie list of books to be found in 
the Bibliography. The illustrations are drawn 
mostly from St. George Mivart's book, " The 
Cat;" from "Our Cats," by Harrison Weir, 
F.R.H.S. ; from Chauveau's "Anatomy" and 
Raillet's "Zoologie." I am especially indebted 
to Arthur Erwin Brown, Esq., superinten- 
dent of the Zoological Gardens of Philadelphia, 
for editing the chapter upon the Zoology of 
the Feline Species ; and I am glad to avail ni}-- 
self of this public opportunity of repeating my 
thanks to him. 

Rush Shippen Huudekoper, 

New York College of Veterinary Surgeons, 

154 East Fifty-seventh Street, 

New York, April 16, 1895. 



COE'TEI^TS. 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

Zoological position of the Cat Family, 
with a descriptive list op the various 
feline species 1 

CHAPTER II. 

An OUTLINE OF THE AnATOMY OF THE DOMES- 
TIC Cat 21 

CHAPTER III. 

The Origin of the Domestic Cat and its 
Varieties. 

Tlie Wild Cat .' 32 

The Egyptian Cat 34 

Long-haired Cats. 

The Angora 40 

The Persian 41 

Short-haired Cats. 

The Tortoise-shell 46 

The Tortoise-shell-and- White 49 

The Brown Tabby 53 

The Spotted Tabby 56 

vii 



Viii CONTENTS 

PAGE 

The Short-haired White Cat 62 

Self-colored Cats 65 

The Black Cat 65 

The Blue Cat 65 

The Blaok-and-White Cat 67 

The Siamese Cat 69 

The Manx Cat 71 

CHAPTER IV. 

Care of the Cat. 

Housing , 75 

Feed 78 

Breeding 81 

Gelded Cats 84 

Transportation 85 

CHAPTER V. 

Diseases of the Cat. 

Evidence of Disease 87 

Diseases of the Respiratory System. 

Catarrh or Cold 89 

Bronchitis 89 

Broncho-pneumonia 91 

Diseases of the Digestive System. 

Gastritis 93 

Constipation and Diarrhoea 95 

Jaundice 96 

Constitutional Diseases. 

Distemper 99 

Glanders 103 

Eczema 105 

Canler of the Ear 105 

Milk-fever 107 



CONTENTS ix 

PAGE 

Nervous Troubles. 

Convulsions or Fits . 108 

Epilepsy 109 

Parasitic Diseases. 

Fleas 110 

Mange Ill 

Follicular Mange 114 

Stomach Worms 116 

Tapeworm 118 

EingiLorm 120 

Trichina 122 

Strongyli 125 

Diseases of the Eye. 
Diseases of the Teeth. 
Diseases of the Claws. 

Poisons ... 129 

Administration of Medicine 131 

Anesthetics 134 

Destroying Cats 134 

CHAPTER VI. 

Etymology and Synonyms of the Cat 137 

Emblematic Signification of the Cat 138 



APPENDIX 141 



BIBLIOGRAPHY. 



The Comparative Anatomy of the Domesticated 
Animals. By A. Chauveau, M.D., LL.D., etc. (English 
translation). New York, D. Appleton & Co., 1891. 

A Manual of Zoology. By Henry AUegne Nicholson, 
M.D., D.Sc, M.A., etc. New York, D. Appleton & Co.. 
1883. 

Elements de Zoologie Medicale et Agricole. Par 
A. Raillet. Paris, Asselin et Hougeau, 1886. 

The Cat : An Introduction to the Study of Back- 
boned Animals, especially Mammals. By St. George 
Mivart, Ph.D., F.R.S. With 200 illustrations. New 
York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1892. 

Our Cats, and all about Them : Their Varieties, 
Habits, and Management, and for Show, etc. By 
Harrison Weir, F.R.H.S., President of the National Cat 
Club. Boston and New York, Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 
1889. 

The Cat : Its Natural History ; Domestic Varie- 
ties ; Management, and Treatment. By Philip M. 
Rule. London, Swan Sonnenschein & Co. 

Domestic or Fancy Cats (illustrated). By Jolm 
Jennings. London, L. Upcott Gill, 1893. 

The Cat : Its History, Diseases, and Management. 
By the Honorable Lady Cust. Loudon, Henry J. Drake. 

Cats : Their Points and Classification. By W. 
Gordon Stables, M.D., CM., R.N. London, Dean & Son. 

The Domestic Cat. By Gordon Stables, M.D., CM., 
R.N. London, George Routledge & Sons. 



THE CAT 



CHAPTER I. 

ZOOLOGICAL POSITION OF THE CAT FAMILY, 

WITH A DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE 

VARIOUS FELINE SPECIES. 

ZOOLOGICALLY speaking, the cat is a 
mammal belonging to the order Carnivora, 
or flesh-eaters. Modern classification, based 
chiefly upon characters drawn from the bony 
skeleton — which changes slowly with develop- 
mental processes through the course of geologic 
time, and preserves the evidences of common 
ancestry much longer than the softer parts of 
the organism — divides the carnivores into three 
suborders, known as Cijnoidea, containing the 
dogs, wolves, foxes, and jackals ; Ardoidea, in- 
cluding bears, racoons, and most of the so- 
1 



2 THE CAT 

called fui'-bearing animals — otters, weasels, 
skunks, badgers, etc. ; and ^luroidea, with 
four families: YiverridcB — the musk-cats or 
civets and genets^ with the paradoxures and 
ichneumons; Hycenidce — the three species of 
hyena, with the aardwolf, or Protdes, of South 
Africa; CvyptoprodidiB, containing but one 
savage little member, a native of Madagascar, 
called "foussa"; and finally the cat's own 
family, the FelidcB. 

The degree of perfection reached by any liv- 
ing organism is simpl}- the amount of speciali- 
zation or adaptation which it has undergone 
in its relations to the special natural conditions 
under which its life is passed, and measui*ed 
by this standard, the cat is the most perfect of 
carnivores. Feeding upon other animals, which 
it must pursue 'with noiseless stealth and cap- 
ture by an exertion of supreme activity, the ca.t 
has padded feet which make no sound in move- 
ment ; muscles of enormous power and bulk in 
proportion to its size, and attached to bones 
addressed to each other at such angles as to 
form the most comi^lete system of springs and 
levers for propelling the body known in the 



ZOOLOGICAL POSITION 3 

whole group ; the chxws are sharper and curved 
into strong hooks more than in any other mam- 
mal, and by the action of special muscles are 
withdrawn under the protection of sheathlike 
pads, that they may escape wear and injury 
when not in use ; no teeth are better fitted for 
their work — the great canines for tearing, 
and the scissor-like premolars for shearing oif 
lumps of flesh small enough to swallow ; while 
the short and simple alimentary tract takes up 
little internal sjiace, and permits of a lithe and 
slender form suited to the highest activity, at 
the same time performing its digestive work 
rapidly, and soon ridding the animal of tlie bur- 
den of the enormous meals which those which 
feed only when they can are certain to indulge 
in when the opportunity arises. In the eye, 
the fibres of the iris, opening to the widest ex- 
tent, expand the pupil to a full circle, admit- 
ting every ray of light which can fall upon it 
during the darkness of night, and by a i-apid 
and spontaneous contraction — in some species 
to a narrow slit, in others to a ring as small 
as a pinhead — shut off all excess of blinding 
light at midday, and permit minute exactness 



4 THE CAT 

of vision under either extreme. Add to all 
these that the coloring of cats is highly assim- 
ilated, as it is termed, or suited to concealment 
among the various shades of ground and fo- 
liage among which it lives — as, for instance, 
the tiger, buffy yellow, with vertical bars of 
black, is said to blend perfectly with the up- 
right yellow bamboo stems which stand out 
against the gloomy interspaces of tropical jun- 
gles ; and the leopard and jaguar, of a similar 
yellow, with dark spots and rosettes, li\dng 
largely in trees, are not readily perceived 
among the mottling of light and shade result- 
ing from the maze of leaves, boughs, and wan- 
dering rays of suidight ; while the cats of one 
color, like the lion and puma, are of neutral 
shades of gray or yellow, harmonizing well 
with earth tints on open plains, and inconspic- 
uous under any surroundings. It is thus seen 
that, with all mammals in the field, none prob- 
ably is so well armed for the battle of life as is 
the cat. 

This general type of structure is common to 
all cats, such variations as there are, being only 
in minor characteristics, but slightly related to 



ZOOLOGICAL POSITION 5 

their life habits. Aud psychologically, too, 
there is quite as much uiiiforniity ;(^all cats 
are carnivorous, preferring to discover and kill 
their own x>rey ; all are ferocious and sangui- 
nary ; loving retirement ; moving with conceal- 
ment and stealth ; never affronting danger, but 
fighting desj)erately when injured or when 
escape is no longer possible. All climb with 
ease, excepting only the tiger and lion, whose 
bulk has probably deterred them from acquu"- 
ing the habit. So persistent are the characters 
both of body and mind in this family, that in 
spite of thirty-five centuries or more of domes- 
tication, the household tabby to-day preserves 
far more of its ancestral traits than any other 
of the four-footed associates of man. 

Cats are found all over the world, except in 
the Australian region, Madagascar, and the 
West Indies. They are mainly tropical and 
heat-loving, although a few species range far 
to the north, as the tiger in Asia and the puma 
in America. The short-tailed lynxes also pre- 
dominate in northern regions. 

The}' are naturally a well-marked group, and 
for the present purpose maj' be regarded as 



6 THE CAT 

forming a single genus, Fells; the ciiaracters 
upon which most of the genera were based, 
which various systematists have attempted to 
set off from the main stem, being uncertain, 
variable, and hard to specify. Some memljers 
of the genus vary greatly in size and color, and 
we have far from complete knowledge of all 
the different lands of cats under nature, but 
those most commonly recognized at the present 
time may be briefly recounted : 

1. The Tiger {FeJis tigris). The title of 
'' king of l)easts " has long been conferred upon 
the lion, but l)y right should be borne by 
the royal tiger — his superior in beauty, size, 
and strength. The ingenious observations 
upon the muscular capacity of animals made 
by the Rev. Mr. Houghton, at Dublin, showed 
the strength of the tiger to exceed that of the 
lion by a full quarter ; and on a few occasions 
when they have been matched together, the 
tiger has always proved the victor — in modern 
days as well as in the arenas of Rome. 

Tigers are found all through southern Asia, 
and away to the north in Siberia and Korea, 
and in the larger islands of the Indian Archi- 



ZOOLOGICAL POSITION 7 

pelago, excepting Borneo and Ceylon. Their 
vertical bars of black and yellow need no de- 
scription ; tlie sexes are alike, save that the 
female is somewhat smaller and less power- 
fully built. A full-grown male should measure 
about ten and a half feet from tip of nose to 
end of tail, and in good condition should weigh 
about four hundred and fifty pounds. Twelve- 
foot tigers are never seen in life, and owe their 
existence only to wilful or careless measure- 
ment, or more commonly to stretching of the 
elastic skin when freshl}^ removed. Tigers 
thrive well in captivitj", but do not, as a rule, 
breed freely. Strange to say, hybrids with the 
lion are not uncommon in menageries. 

2. The Lion {F. leo) has a very extensive 
geographical range over the whole of Africa 
and southern Asia into India, and, as might be 
expected in encountering such a variety of 
climates and surroundings, lions from diiferent 
parts sometimes present marked contrasts in 
appearance. Some are lighter or darker in 
color; some males have an enormous growth 
of long dark hair about the neck and shoulders 
and on the under side of the body, while in 



8 THE CAT 

others it is little more developed than in the 
female. But these differences are purely indi- 
vidual, and have no specific value. Indeed, Mr. 
F. C. Selous, the famous hunter and explorer of 
South Afi'ica, says that in \^dld lions the mane 
never reaches the development shown by nuiuy 
.specimens in menageries. Young lions are 
spotted all over the body at bu'th ; the spots 
usually disappear at from two to three years of 
age, about the time the mane begins to show, 
but not infrequently they remain indistinctly 
on the sides and abdomen throughout life. 
African lions are usually larger than Asiatic 
specimens, the male being alwaj^s the larger, 
and scaling perhaps four hundred pounds in 
weight, with an extreme length of ten to ten 
and a half feet. 

3. The Leopard {F-ixirdns) covers very much 
the same countries as the lion, but is more con- 
stant in its yellow background of color, covered 
with rosettes of black spots. It varies greatly, 
however, in size, some specimens — especially 
old males — in India reaching a bulk double 
that of average individuals. Some naturalists 
and almost all sportsmen erroneously regard 



ZOOLOGICAL POSITION 9 

these large examples as a distinct species, which 
they call the panther. Black leopards are not 
uncommon, in which the spots show faintly in 
certain lights, outlined in different degrees of 
black ; these are only what is called melanistic 
individuals, and make their appearance in the 
same litter as cubs of ordinary coloi*. Leopards 
are from five to eight feet long, and are small 
enough to climb trees without difficulty. 

4. The Ounce {F. uncia) is peculiar in that it 
is rarely found below the snow-line in the 
Himalayas of India, which it inhabits up to an 
altitude of eighteen thousand feet; it is also 
found in central Asia, always at gi-eat eleva- 
tions. It is about the size of the leopard ; but 
as with most inhabitants of cold climates, the 
fur is long and dense, and the tail is much more 
bushy than in any other cat, though tigers from 
Siberia often exhibit these characters as well. 
The ounce is pale yellowish gray, spotted all 
over, though the spots show less tendency to 
form rings or rosettes than in the leopard. The 
only specimen of this animal which has been 
brought alive out of its native country was ex- 
hibited in the Zoological Gardens at London 



10 THE CAT 

iu 1894. The name "snow-leopard" is often 
applied to it. 

5. The Puma {F. concohr) inhabits all of con- 
tinental America from Hudson's Bay to the 
Straits of Magellan — a range more extensive 
than that of any other cat. It is an adaptable 
animal, and is equally at home in the cane- 
brakes of the lower Mississippi, the jung-le- 
swamps of Brazil, or at altitudes of twelve 
thousand feet in the Rocky Mountains. In 
North America they are usually gray in color, 
and without spots when adult, though the cubs 
are spotted like young lions and probably the 
young of all the one-colored cats. In tropical 
regions they show a disposition to rufous tints, 
and skins from South America are sometimes 
of a rich red tan. This species is known by 
many vernacular names, "panther," "cou- 
gar," "lion," and "mountain-lion" being 
among them. The latter names appear to have 
arisen from the fact that the early discoverers 
of America took the puma to be a female lion 
— an animal wliicli it resembles in a general 
way, owing to its uniform color and the ab- 
sence of a mane. 



ZOOLOGICAL rosniON 11 

They are coiispicuoiTsly secretive, even in 
this wild and shy family, and in mountainous 
regions, where their tracks may be daily seen, 
it is an unusual event to come upon the animal 
itself. Eight feet in length, including the tail, 
and one hundred and fifty pounds' weight, would 
be a large specimen of this species. The head 
is smaller than in most cats ; the muscular sys- 
tem is powerful, and the activity is prodigious. 

6. The Jaguar {F. onca) much resembles the 
leopard. The body-color is of a rather deeper 
yellow, and sometimes has almost a rosy tinge ; 
the rings formed by the dai'k spots are, as a 
rule, larger than in that species, and frequently 
inclose several irregular marks or spots of the 
same color. White specimens have been kno\^ni, 
and black ones occur as in the leopard. They 
are heavily built animals, ordinarily about the 
size of the leopard, but with a slightly shorter 
tail. Sometimes, however, a large size is reached, 
Baron Humboldt having seen one as large as 
an average tiger; and D'Azara, another well- 
known Soutli American traveler, states that he 
once knew a jaguar to drag off the body of a 
horse and swim with it across a \Aide and deep 



12 THE CAT 

river. The species has been known to occnr 
as far north as the Red River in Louisiana ; it 
was formerly not uncommon on the lower Rio 
Grande in Texas, and ranges far to the south 
in Uruguay and Argentina. 

7. The Clouded Tiger {F. macroceJis). This 
fine species, about six and a half feet long, is 
last in the list of large cats. It inhabits souths 
eastern Asia, with some of the outlying islands. 
It is of a brownish gray, with darker patches 
irregularlj^ disposed in vertical markings. 

8. The Thibet Tiger-cat {F. ^cripta), re- 
stricted to Thibet, aiid similar to the last spe- 
cies, but much smaller. 

9. Fontaneir's Cat {F. fristis), pale gray, 
variously spotted, and marked with rusty 
brown ; found in China. 

10. The Golden Cat {F. moormensis), about 
four feet in length, uniform red-bay in color, 
with a few indistinct spots on the sides. This 
beautiful species comes from India, where its 
exact range is not fully made out. 

11. The Fishing Cat {F. viverrina), a heavily 
built cat, gray in color, very irregulai-ly marked 
with dark-brown spots. The l^ody is about 



ZOOLOGICAL POSITION 13 

thirty inches in length, and the tail about ten. 
It is an inhabitant of southern Asia and Ceylon. 
Alone among cats, it lives upon fish and fresh- 
water moUusks, which it captures for itself. 

12. The Bengalese Cat {F. hengalensis), a 
very beautiful species from northern India, of 
a tawny or fulvous gray, with the usual irreg- 
ular dark markings. Specimens of this and 
the two preceding species are at present living 
in the collection of the Zoological Society of 
Philadelphia. 

13. The Wagati {F. wagati). This is also a 
Bengalese cat, yellowish in color, and more or 
less spotted or striped. 

14. The Marbled Tiger-cat {F. ^narmorata), 
a spotted, yellowish-gray cat of medium size, 
inhabiting Burmah, Malacca, Java, and Borneo. 

15. The Serval {F. served), a moderately 
large African cat of rusty or tawny color, with 
black spots on the body and rings on the short 
tail, and with very long legs ; an inhabitant of 
the whole of Africa. 

16. The Golden-haired Cat {F. rufila), a 
reddish-brown cat with small dark spots, found 
on the west coast of Africa. 



14 THE CAT 

17. The Gray African Cat (F. neglecfa), a 
small gray, spotted species inhabiting- Gam- 
bia. 

18. The Servaline Cat {F. serralina), very 
similar to the last, but yellowisli instead of 
gray, and found in Sierra Leone. 

19. The OcEi,OT {F. pardalis), a beautiful and 
very varial^le eat, sometimes gra}'-, often yel- 
low, but always elegantly marked with spots, 
streaks, and blotches of dark and occasional- 
ly brownish gi'ay. Full-grown specimens are 
sometimes four feet long, and the sexes are 
similar. The range of the species is about the 
same as that of the jn-guar, but they are nnore 
common than the latter in the southwestern 
United States. These animals are said to be 
easily tamed, but in the experience of the 
writer they are usually savage, and less readih^ 
domesticated than many other members of the 
family. 

20. The Margay {F. tigriiui), a spotted, gray- 
ish cat found in the low woodlands of Central 
and South America. 

21. Geoffroy's Cat {F. guigna), a small 
spotted cat of South America. 



ZOOLOGICAL POSITION 15 

22. The OcELOT-LiivE Cat {F. ^xtrdinoides), a 
small species from Bogota, South America. 

23. The Yaguarundi {F. yaguarundi). This 
auimal and the succeeding one are remarkably 
different from most cats in external appear- 
ance. The body is long and slender, the legs 
short, the neck long, and the head elongated 
and flattened, so that the animal at a first 
glance has the aspect of a large weasel, rather 
than one of the Felidce. This sj^ecies is of a 
dark gray, sometimes brownish, often almost 
black, and is of uniform color. The body is less 
than two feet long, and the tail is of equal length. 
It is found from the Rio Grande to Brazil. 

24. The Eyra {F. eyra), similar in form to 
the last, but usually of a reddish-tan or brown- 
ish-yellow color, and considerably larger. Its 
range is about the same. 

25. The CoLOCOLLO {F. coJocoUo), a whitish- 
gray species, about the size of the common cat, 
with black stripes on the back, sides, and side 
of the face ; an inhabitant of Guiana and north- 
western South America. 

26. The Rusty-spotted Cat {F. ruhighwsa), 
a graceful, pretty little cat of a greenish gray, 



16 THE CAT 

sometimes with, a rusty tinge, with elongated, 
sparsely scattered black spots, which give it 
almost the color of the rich moss-colored bark 
of a tropical tree ; an inhabitant of Ceylon and 
portions of continental India. 

27. The Chinese Cat {F. cMnensis), pale yel- 
lowish gray, with dark-brown spots, and white 
on the under surface of the throat and body ; an 
inhabitant of Canton and the island of Formosa. 

28. The Small Cat {F. winuta), much like 
the Chinese Cat, but smaller and with spots 
rather more elongated; an inhabitant of the 
Indian Archipelago. 

29. Jerdon's Cat {F. jerdoni). This cat is 
much like the last two species, but has a 
shorter tail, darker and more distinct spots. 

30. The Javan Cat [F. javanensis), known 
only from a skin in the British Museum. 

31. Tlie Bushy-tailed, Red-spotted Cat {F. 
euptilura), about the size of the house-cat ; gray ; 
spotted ; from Shanghai, China. 

32. The Small-eared Cat {F. micr-otis) ; Mon- 
golia. 

33. The Large-eared Cat {F. megalotis). 

34. The Flat-headed Cat {F. planiceps), a 



ZOOLOGICAL POSITION 17 

dark-brown cat with silvery tips to the hairs ; 
from Malacca, Sumatra, and Borneo. 

35. The BoRNEAN Bay Cat {F. badia), an- 
other unspotted variety. 

36. The Egyptian Cat {F. calkjata). This 
species varies from a pale yellow to gray, with 
darkish bands on the legs and toward the end 
of the tail, and distinct horizontal bands on the 
sides of the face. This long-tailed cat is prob- 
ably one of the main soui-ces of origin of the 
domestic cat. 

37. The Wildcat {F. catus) is found through- 
out Europe and western Asia, although it has 
become extinct in England. The color is dark 
gray, banded and spotted, and the tail is com- 
paratively short. 

38. The Indian Wildcat {F. torquata). This 
cat much resembles the Eiu'opean Wildcat, but 
is lighter in color, not so distinctly banded, and 
more graceful in its form. 

39. The Common Jungle-cat (F. chaiis), an 
inhabitant of India, of moderate size. 

40. The Ornate Jungle-cat {F. ornata), 
from northwestern India; pale brown, with 
very small spots. 



18 THE CAT 

41. The Steppe Cat [F. caudatus), an in- 
habitant of Bokhara. 

42. Shaw's Cat {F. shawiana), from Tm*kes- 
tan. 

43. The Manul {F. manxl), the beautiful 
wildcat of Thibet, Mongolia, and Siberia. It 
is smaller than the common cat, with long, soft 
hair, yellowish white in color, with some black 
markings on the legs and body. 

44. The Straw or Pajvipas Cat {F. pajeros). 
This cat represents in South America the 
Manul of Asia. 

45. The Northern Lynx [F. lyncus), a mod- 
erate-sized cat, with a heavy body, powerful 
limbs, a very short tail, and sometimes with 
tufted ears, inhabits the northern portions of 
Asia, Europe, and America. The relationships 
existing between these cats are even 3- et some- 
what obscure, but it seems best to regard them 
all as of one species, of which the Canada lynx 
and the red lynx, wildcat or catamount, of the 
United States may be well-marked varieties. 
The color ranges from gray to reddish brown, 
always more or less spotted and banded, and 
much lighter on the under side of the body. 



ZOOLOGICAL rOSITION 19 

Northern specimens are heavily furred and 
have very large feet, serving the purpose of 
snow-shoes during winter. There ^s much di- 
versity in size, the southern form being smaller 
than the Canada one, which may reach three 
feet in length of body, the tail being about 
five inclies. A mounted specimen from north- 
ern Europe, in the British Museum, is quite 
as large as an average leopard. They are ex- 
tremely shy animals, and in captivity appear 
to suffer from the publicity which must needs 
surround them. In fact, they are among the 
most difficult of all cats to domesticate, and it 
is rare to see the slightest disposition to be- 
come tame. 

4G. The Pardine Lynx {F.jxrnlina), the Ijnx 
of southern Europe. 

47. The Caracal (i^.cflmw/). This is a lynx 
of slender form and ver}^ variable color, found 
from India and central Asia in to Africa. 

48. The Cheetah {F. jiihafa). The skull of 
this cat is quite different in some details from 
that tjq^ical of Felis, and the claws cannot be 
drawn entirely back into a sheath ; the legs are 
also very long. The species is usuaUv, there- 



20 THE CAT 

fore, regarded as forming a distinct genus, 
Cymdurus. The color is yellow, more or less 
pale, and the whole body is covered with small 
dark spots. The head is small, the neck some- 
what arched, and in full-gi-own males a short 
mane is often developed. The long legs give 
this curious cat somewhat the form of the 
greyhound. It is of comparatively gentle dis- 
position, and in India, as is well known, is very 
genei-ally used for hunting oi" coursing ante- 
lope upon the open plains. The animal is a 
native of India, southwestern Asia, and a large 
portion of Africa. A not very well character- 
ized species, known as the woolly cheetah, is 
said to exist in South Africa. 

Many other supposed species of cat have 
been described ; but most of them rest upon 
imperfect and insufficient material, while many 
of the others may be regarded as individual 
variations from some of the above better- 
known forms. With increased knowledge of 
portions of the earth which at present are little 
known, others will doubtless be added to the 
Hst. 



CHAPTER II. 

AN OUTLINE OF THE ANATOMY OF THE 
DOMESTIC CAT. 

THE skeleton of the cat differs from that 
of man and those of the other domestic 
animals only in tri^dal details which allow snch 
modification as is needed by the habits of the 
animal. 

Figures 1 and 2 give the outlines of the 
external conformation of the cat, and the 
same animal in section, showing the propor- 
tionate relations of its skeleton to its exterior 
as a whole. To any one familiar mth the skel- 
etons of other animals it mil be seen at once 
that the thorax or chest, as shown by the curves 
of the thirteen ribs in Figure 2, is very small 
in proportion to the body when compared with 
that of other animals. This means a small 
lung space, which leaves behind it, hoAvever, 
3 21 



22 



TEE CAT 




Fig. 2. — Relative Proportion of Skeleton to the 
Exterior op the Cat. 



ANATOMY 23 

an immense area for the digestive tract and 
the organs of propagation. The head is 
rounded, and the jaws are rather short. Tlie 
eyes are large, and separated by a considerable 
interval. The ears become narrow as they as- 
cend, and each stands with its deep concavity 
directed forward and outward. The neck is 
a little shorter and less voluminous than the 
head. The front limbs are shorter than the 
hind limbs, and consist ea(;li of an upper arm, 
a forearm, and a paw with five short toes. 
Each hind limb has a thigh, a leg, and a foot 
with four toes. The proportions of the body 
are such that both the elbow and knee are 
placed close to the trunk. It will be seen 
that the shoulder-ljlade, the arm, and the fore- 
arm lie at very closed angles, as do also the 
thigh, leg, and foot of the hinder extremities. 
This conformation indicates at once a charac- 
ter of action of the cat with which we are all 
familiar. The small lung area allows of quick, 
active movement, but not of prolonged work. 
The large space foi- digestive tract and prr>p- 
agation shows that the animal is capable of 
taking advantage of all the luxuries of food. 



24 THE CAT 

with a space for storage^ or is, again, able to 
resist the demands of a long famine. The an- 
gular joints of the legs show power and possi- 
bility of quick movement, "\^'itllont, however, 
great speed or extension of stride. 

It must be understood here that the enor- 
mous jumps which the cat is capable of tak- 
ing are due to the great power and the closed 
angles of the joints of its legs ; whereas the 
stride of the animal at a walk, trot, or run is 
very limited. 

Figures 3 and 4 show the skull of the cat 
and its dentition. It ^\t11 be seen that the 
cat's teeth are set at more or less of a hooklike 
angle, with the points turned toward the inside 
of the mouth, which gives it a very powerful 
hold of anything which it grasps. The cat has 
thu*ty teeth in all. It will lie seen in Figure 4 
— which represents the teeth of one side of th.e 
jaw — that there is first in front a row of in- 
cisors (three on either side — six in aU), which 
are very small, and are practically radimeutary 
in this animal ; then two enormous tush teeth, 
which enalile it to grasp its prey in the shape 
of the mouse, bird, or a simple piece of meat. 




Fig. 3. — Skull of the Cai 

C JJTK, 




Fig. 4. — Permanent Dentition of the Cat. 
/, lueisors ; c, Canines or tushes ; ivii, Premolars ; 
m, Molars. 



26 THE CAT 

aud hold it firmly ; tlieu posterior come the 
premolars — three in the upper jaw and two in 
the lower jaw of each side ; aud behind these 
the molars — one in each jaw. In the tempo- 
rary or milk dentition of kittens the molai-s ai-e 
absent, leaving but tweutj^-six teeth. These, it 
will be seen (Figure 4), have enormous strong 
roots set in the jaw-bone, while the points are 
shai'p and cutting; which allows of the man- 
gling of any solid food which may l)e taken, 
while it does not permit of grinding it, as is 
necessary in the herbivorous animals, or even, 
to a certain extent, in the omnivorous animals. 
The cat, like the dog, after having once grasped 
its food, tears it to a certain degree, and then 
swallows it whole, when its powerful stomach 
and organs of digestion allow of the rapid dis- 
integration of what it may have swallowed. 

The muzzle of the cat is soft, with long coarse 
hairs, ordinarily called the "whiskers" {cihris- 
sm), which are really organs of touch. These, 
like the hairs on the end of a horse's muzzle, 
or those of most of the domestic animals, are 
deeply imbedded in the skin, touching at their 
roots sensory nerves, which indicate to the ani- 



JXATOMY 



27 



mal, when nosing over foreign objects or when 
feeling its way in the dark, that its head is 
coming in contact with foreign bodies; and 
they are really organs of self -protection. These 
are seen represented in Figure 5, which also 




Fig. 5. — Muzzle of Cat, Showing above, Nose- 
point AND Nostrils covered with Dense Mucous 
Membrane ; at Sides, Vibriss^e ; and below, the Lips 
AND Chin. 

represents the lips — the npper and lower lip — 
the nostrils, and the point of the nose. And 
it will be understood in the description of the 
various cats in the latter part of this book that 
when the nose is spoken of as being black or 
pink, it is meant to indicate that this col- 
oration applies to the mucous membrane sur- 



28 THE CAT 

rounding the nostrils, as is seen in the figure, 
represented by the two dai-k orifices of the 
nostrils, surrounded by the grayish hook-lines 
turning in opposite directions. 

The pads of the feet of the cat consist of 
bulbs of a fibro-elastic, fatty material, cohered 
by an excessively thick and dense epithelial 




13 
Fig. C. — Right Forepaw of a Cat. 

membrane, Avhich is, however, nothing but a 
modification of the connective tissues and epi- 
thelial covering which form the skin of the 
rest of the body, but is condensed in order to 
meet the requirements of the extra friction 
which is demanded of those parts of the feet 
which come in contact with the ground and 
must bear the animal's weight. These pads in 
the forefeet are seven in number, as shown 
in Figure 6. In the hind feet there are only 



ANATOMY 29 

five. Each pad consists of a mass of fibrous 
tissue and fat, and a large triobed one is 
placed beneath the ends of those bones on 
which the animal i-ests in walking, as repre- 
sented in the figure here given. 

One essential character of the anatomy of 
the entire cat tribe consists in the arrangement 
of the claws at the end of each toe. While the 
nails of the fingers and toes of man and of the 
toes of the elephant, the hoofs on the extremity 
of the legs of the horse, cattle, and such ani- 
mals, are fixed and practically immovalile, and 
while these same appendages in tlie claws 
of the dog and many other animals are fixed, 
while slightly . movable in the softer tissues 
which imbed them, in the feline species they 
are excessively movable. In the cat tribe there 
is in the soft tissue which covers the third pha- 
lanx, or the last joint of the toes, a pocket or 
socket which holds the claw. Under ordinary 
circumstances, and when the animal is at rest, 
the claw is drawn l)ack into the socket, and 
held imbedded there by an elastic Ugament, 
as will be seen in the upper illustration of 
Figiu-e 7. When, however, an animal of the. cat 



30 THE CAT 

tribe wishes to grasp anything, and use its 
claws, it flexes the bones of its digital extremi- 
ties, and tightening the tendon which is seen 
on the under-surface of both illustrations of 




Fig. 7. — Upper Figure : Claw at Eest, Held back 
BY Elastic Ligament. Lower Figure : Claw Drawn 
DOWN BY Contraction of Tendon below, Elastic 
Ligament Stretched, and Claw Protruding. 

Figure 7, it draws the claw forward and 
downward, therebj^ stretching the elastic liga- 
ment. This can readily be verified by taking 
your own cat at perfect rest, and after patting 
it gently on the head, pass the hand down over 
the ends of the toes, when you will find that 



AXATOMY 31 

the claws can scarcely be felt; however, the 
instaut the cat has been wakened and starts 
to play, or resists the handling- it has been snb- 
jected to, the claws protrude as the paw and 
the foot are flexed. 

It is not in place here to go into detailed 
anatomy of the cat. Reference has already 
been made to the slight development of the 
respiratory system. The digesti\'e system of 
the cat is comparatively simple. The stomach 
is ample, and the intestines which follow it, 
while convoluted in order to be contained in a 
limited space, are not subject to the constric- 
tions which are found in the horse and some 
of the larger domestic animals, and it is rare 
that we have in the cat troubles coming from 
obstruction of the digestive tract, unless the 
animal has by accident swallowed some enor- 
mous foreign body. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE OEIGIN OF THE DOMESTIC CAT AND 
ITS VAEIETIES. 

I HAVE referred tersely in Chapter I. to 
the Wildcat, the Egyptian Cat (which un- 
doubtedly originally was a Wildcat), and the 
American Wildcat ; but I now repeat a descrip- 
tion of these, as they are unquestionably the 
source of origin of the Domestic Cat. 

The Wildcat {F. cafus). 

While the Wildcat of western Europe is 
undoubtedly one of the strongest factors 
in the origin of the ordinary short-haii-ed 
house-cat of to-day, and the descrij^tion of it 
should be original, and that of the house-cat 
by comparison, the latter is so much more 
familiar to us all that it is simpler to describe 
the Wildcat by comparison. The Wildcat 
32 



rARlETIES 



33 



differs from tlie house-cat in being larger and 
stronger in its body. It has a head which is 
broader and more heavily boned, and a short, 
thick tail which does not taper. Its whiskers 
are more abundant, and the pads of its feet 




Fig. 8. — The Wildcat. 



are, in the males, of a deep black. In color it 
is a yellowish gray, with a dark longitudinal 
mark along the back, and it has dark strij^es 
descending more or less vertically on the sides 
and transversely on the legs. Its tail is ringed 
with black, and is black at the end. In other 
words, it is marked much like the domestic 
Tabbv. 



34 THE CAT 

The Egyptian Cat {F. callgafa). 

The Egyptian Cat is a native of nortliern 
Africa, and was the parent of the cat tamed 
by the Egyptians, and undoubtedly also one 
of the originators of our own house-cats. The 
Egyptian Cat is consideralily smaller than the 
Eui'opean Wildcat. It is of a yellowisli color, 
darker on the back, and very light on the belly. 
The stripes on the body are not well marked, 
though slightly more so on the legs. The tail 
is slightly ringed. 

The American Wildcat {F. lynens rufus). 

The American Wildcat is very similar in 
formation, color, and character to the Wild- 
cat of Europe, but is somewhat stronger and 
stouter. It undoubtedly has been a factoi- in 
the breeding of certain domestic cats in Amer- 
ica, but so little so that no importance need be 
attached to it. 

It can now be accepted that the so-called 
Domestic Cat of to-day is the descendant of 
certain wild species existing on the several con- 



VARIETIES 35 

tinents ages ago, when the first members were 
subdued, subjugated, and, by handUng, reduced 
to house-pets, or at least to that semi-domesti- 
cation Avhich renders them familiar wnth man, 
and useful in stables and granaries for the 
destruction of small vermin, or to be petted in 
dwellings as companions. 

The domestication of the cat took place at a 
very ancient period. From its small size, and 
the fact that it is not a choice article of diet, it 
is not wonderf nl that we find few or no traces 
of the smaller varieties of the cat in the dol- 
mens or kokkenmoeddings of Denmark and 
northern central Europe, nor in the caves of 
the troglodytes of France, Siljeria, and the 
British Islands. The first e^^denee of the cat 
in connection with man is to be found in the 
ancient monuments of Egypt, Babylon, and 
Nineveh. 

I In the Eg}T)tian Gallery of the British Mu- 
seum is an excellent painting of a tabbj'-cat, 
which seems to be aiding a man who is captur- 
ing bu'ds. The cat is mentioned in inscriptions 
as early as 1684 B.C., and it was certaiidy domes- 
ticated in Egyjjt thirteen hundred years before 



36 THF. CAT 

Christ. The earliest known representation of 
the eat as a domestic animal and pet is at Ley- 
den, in a tablet of the Eighteenth or Nineteenth 
Dynasty, wherein it appears seated under a 
chair. In Eg:ypt it was an object of religious 
worship and the venerated inmate of certain 
temples. The goddess Pasht or Bubastis, the 
goddess of cats, was, under the Roman empii-e, 
represented with a cat's head. A temple at 
Beni-Hassan, dedicated to her, belongs to the 
period of Thothmes IV., of the Eighteenth Dy- 
nast}^, 1500 B.C. Behind this temple are pits con- 
taining a multitude of cat mummies. The cat 
was an emblem of the sun to the Egyptians. Its 
eyes were supposed to vary in appearance with 
the course of that luminary, and likewise to un- 
dergo a change each lunar month, on which ac- 
count the animal was also sacred to the moon. 
Herodotus recounts instances of the strangely 
exaggerated regard felt for it by the dwellers 
on the Nile. He tells us that when a cat dies 
a natural death in a house, the Egyptians shave 
off their eyebrows ; and that when a fire occurs 
they are more anxious to save their cats tlian 
to extinguish the conflagTation. 



\ 



VARIETIES 37 

The cat was a common animal, known to the 
Greeks at the period when Athens represented 
the civilization of the world ; and later, in the 
Greco-Italian civilization of Herculaneum and 
Pompeii, in the south of Italy, and in the pe- 
riod of Roman supremacy, it was a well-known 
animal and the pet of courts and ladies' bou- 
doirs. The first account of its domestication 
in Great Britain comes at a comparatively late 
period. 

A canon enacted in the year 1127 forbade 
any abbess or nun to nse more costly fur than 
that of lambs or cats ; and the cat was an ob- 
ject of the chase in royal forests, as is shown 
by a license to. hunt it of the date 1239, and 
by a similar charter given by Richard II. to the 
abbot of Peterborough. 

In resume, from the foregoing it is evident 
that the * domestication of the cat, or at least 
its subjugation, which renders it a companion 
of mankind, took place at a very early period, 
probably synchronous with the first civilization 
of man himself. As pussy is an animal which, 
while savage, wild, and unmanageable in early 
age and its natural state, is yet small enough 



38 THE CAT 

to be easily handled, and sensible euougli to 
become reasonably sociable when it has good 
care and plenty of food, we can readily imagine 
that even in the earliest of times the young 
of the Wildcat was canght and brought home 
to the caves or tents of the first of mankind, 
to be a companion and pet of the children. Its 
thrifty, useful habits of mousing and killing- 
vermin made it useful, so that it was probal^ly 
protected and cared for at a period when man- 
kind first laid \\\) storehouses of grain for 
winter or future use. I doubt if to-day the cat 
in tlie largest city of Europe oT the United 
States is any more of a domestic animal than 
it was when the nomad Aryan traveled from 
Asia to the west of Europe. 

We have seen from the foregoing that the 
Domestic Cat probably comes from several 
sources. The Long-haired Cats derived their 
origin from the Indian, Bengalese, and various 
smaller Wildcats of Asia and southern Russia, 
and are known as the Asiatic, Eastern, or Long- 
haired Cats. 



VARIETIES 39 

LONG-HAIRED CATS. 

The Asiatic or Eastern Cat. 

The Long-haired Cats, otherwise known as 
the Asiatic or Eastern Cats, vary only slightly 
in conformation, bnt greatly in color and in 
the quality of their coats. The coat may be 
woolly in texture, may he coarsish in texture, 
or it nia}^ be as fine as silk ; but more com- 
monly there is a mixture of an upper coat of 
silky hairs with a close, woolly under coat grow- 
ing around the roots of the former. An im- 
portant quality in all Long-li aired Cats is the 
frill or " lord mayor's chain, " wliicli is a crest 
of hairs around the neck at the line where tiie 
fur of the cheeks pointing downward meets 
that of the neck pointing forward. They 
vary in their eyes, ears, and the length and 
form of the tail. The Long-haired Cats include 
the various families known as the Angora, the 
Persian, the Russian, the Chinese, and the In- 
dian. 



40 THE CAT 

The Angoba. 
{Called also Angola.) 

The Angora Cat, wliicli has a close relation 
to the Persian, comes from the province of 
Angora, in western Asia, which is also well 




Fig. 9. — Angora. 

known for its goats, with fine, siLk}', long hair, 
which is used in the manufacture of soft 
shawls. The Angora has a small head, with 
a rather short though well-defined nose, more 
angular than the Persian. The eyes should be 
large and fall, and harmonious in color with 



VAIUETIES 41 

the coat of the animal. The ears are rather 
large, with a tuft of haii" at the tip; but they 
do not look large, as they are imbedded in the 
long fur wliich covers the head and neck. The 
body should be long and graceful, and covered 
with a long silky hair, finer than that of the 
Persian, and hanging in tufts and clusters, 
with a slight tendency to woolliness at the base 
of the bail's ; the legs somewhat short ; and the 
tail long and curving toAvard the end. The 
hair on the tail should be long at the base and 
shorter toward the end of the tail. 

The colors of the Angora Cat are varied. The 
black Angoras and dark slate-colors should 
have orange ej'es ; and the}', with the blues 
and the whites, are the most valued, although 
the light fawns or reds and mottled grays are 
much esteemed. Mr. Weir says that he does 
not believe that long-haired Tabbies can be 
true Angoras. 

The Persian Cat. 

The Persian Cat differs from the Angora 
in several essential details. The head is 
rather larger, with ears less pointed, although 



42 THE CAT 

these also have tufts of hair at their points. 
The eyes are large and full. The Persian is 
larger in the body, and has broader and 
stronger loins, and from its stronger con- 
formation equals in its activity and strengtli 
the graceful form of the more tiger-like An- 
gora. The tail in the Persian is rather longer, 
turns slightly upward at its tip, and has a 
greater growth of liair at the end, instead of 
at the base of the tail as in the Angora. The 
colors of the Persian are variable ; they may 
be white, black, blue, chinchilla, smoke, and 
variable degrees of Tortoise-shell and Tabby ; 
but Mr. Weir is again authority for the state- 
ment that the Tortoise-shell and the dark- 
marked Tabby are not Persian Cat colors, but 
are obtained by crossing witli the Short-hau'ed 
Tortoise-sheU and also with the English Tabby. 
The black is the most valued of colors in the 
Persian. A good, rich, deep black, with orange- 
colored eyes and long flowing hair and a heavy 
mane, constitutes the most perfect form. The 
next color in value is light slate or blue, which 
may vary much in its shades from a lilac hue 
to a deep-blue tone. Then follow the various 



VARIETIES 



43 



mixed colors of black and orange, not dis- 
tinctly blotched enough to be called a Tortoise- 




FiG. 10. — A Persian. 

shell, nor banded enough to be called a Tabby. 
The Tortoise-shell and the Tabby are never so 
well marked in the Long-haired Cats as in the 



44 THE CAT 

Short-haired ones, because the longer hairs of 
the former blend with one another and do not 
allow so distinct a line of demarcation. 



SHOET-HAIRED CATS. 

The European or Western Cat. 

The Short-haired Cat, otherwise known as 
the European or Western Cat, is the one de- 
rived from the European Wildcat, with an in- 
termixture of tlie l)lood of the Egyptian Cat. 
Whatever may have Ijeen its original form — 
which was probably simply a modification of 
the form of the Wildcat — and its color — 
which undoul)tedly at first was the same as the 
gi'ayish coat of the Wildcat — it has changed 
but little except as to a modification of size and 
a change of color, which is no more odd than 
the alterations of color of any other animal 
removed from its natm-al surroundings and 
living in civilization. Tiie varieties we make 
of the Sliort-hairod Cat of to-day are really 
somewhat ailutrary, and leased uj^on color ; but 
we do find that certain deviations of conforma- 



VAIilETIES 45 

tion correspond with certain varieties of color ; 
and it is a fact that by selection of the breed- 
ing of like and like, the probability is that the 
progeny will be like the parent ; and yet this is 
not a fixed fact. We have curious and inex- 
plicable variations of color, especially in the 
l)reeding of the cat. One of the most cnrions 
of these is exemplified in the Tortoise-shell. It 
is easy to obtain a beautifully marked female 
Tortoise-shell ; it is difficult to find a good male 
Tortoise-shell ; yet, having found both, and hav- 
ing l)red them, while the young females may all 
turn out good Tortoise-shells, the average male 
Avill be a red or 3'ellow Tabby. Careful selec- 
tion and breeding in cats has been an object of 
attention only for a comparatively few years. 
It is but a matter of less than half a century 
since cat shows have l)een in vogue, and that 
much attention has been paid to these animals ; 
and undoubtedly in a few yeai-s, when we pay 
the same attention to the breeding of our cats 
which we have to that of the thoroughbred 
horse and all our sporting-dogs, we will olitain 
more definite and satisfactory results. 

The exliibit division and classification of the 



46 THE CAT 

varieties of cats — which, as I have just said, is 
based priueipally on color — will be found in 
the Appendix. 

It will be seen that in the Prize List of the 
National Cat Show (vide Appendix) the classi- 
fication of color is not quite so extended : and 
justly so, as it will require a certain amount of 
time and more systematic breeding to divide 
the classes of cats more rigidly. The general 
divisions will now be given in detail, with a 
short outline of each variety, and then a I'esume 
of the character or qualities which the animal 
should present as to the conformation and shape 
of its head, the color of its eyes, the form and 
feathering of its ears, the conformation of its 
body, with the set of the neck and the shape 
and carriage of the tail, the color and quality 
of its coat, and the character which is wanted 
in the appendages of the extremities. 

The Tortoise-shell. 

[Sometimes called Spmmh Cats.) 

Head. — The head of the Tortoise-shell should 
be rather small, broad across the forehead and 



VARIETIES 47 

between the eyes, rouuded ou top, with a nose 
rather longish, the whole having a somewhat 
bullety appearance. The head is carried on a 
rather longish neck, which adds grace, under 
somewhat savage aspect, to its appearance. 

Eyes. — The eyes are round, brilhant, and 
vary in color from a brigljt amber to an orange- 
yellow ; the darker the hue the better. 

Ears. — The ears are medium in size, rounded 
at the apex, and broad at the base, giving them 
an angular form. They should be set well 
apart and carried well cocked or erect, giving 
a bright appearance. 

Conformation. — The Tortoise-sliell is rather 
a smallish cat ; but allowance must l)e made 
for the fact that the immense majority of Tor- 
toise-shells are females, which in all the cat fam- 
ilies are smaller than the males. The bodies 
are rather long, giving the animal the graceful 
turn of the tiger or leopard. 

Tail. — The tail is long, thick at the base, 
tapers toward the end, and has an upward 
curve. Patches of color on the tail should be 
as distinct as they are on the body. 

Coat — Color and Quality. — The Tortoise- 



48 



THE CAT 



shell in color is black, red, and yellow ; the less 
black the better. The three colors should be 
distinct, in weU-defined patches, with sharp 
lines of demarcation between them. The color 
slionld be rich and deep, and any bliu- in the 




Fig. 11. — Tortoise-shell Cat. 



marking or intermixture of the color becomes 
a,weak point in it. The hair should be short, 
lie close to the body, silken in texture, and have 
a glossy or brilliant appearance. According to 
tlie markings, a Tortoise-shell may be a very 
homely animal or a most beautiful one. Any 
white absolutely disqualifies the animal. There 



VAIIIETIES 49 

is a popular superstition that Tortoise-shells 
are all females; but this is not the case, for 
while females are in the majority, males are 
often to be found, and sometimes are grand, 
beautifid, large animals. 

Merits. — The Tortoise-shell is one of the 
best of hunters of all tlie families of the cat, 
is a most patient niouser, and is brave to the 
extreme. It is not o\'er-affectionate, and some- 
times even sinister and most ill tempered in its 
disposition. 

The Tortoise-shell-and- White. 

Another variety of the Tortoise-shell which 
is frequently seen is one in which there is an 
intermixture of a certain amount of white, 
which is usually seen in a blaze on the face, 
a white breast, and white forelegs and hind- 
legs, the latter not usually having so much 
as the former. 

Head. — The head is small, broad across the 
forehead and between the eyes. It is round 
above and depressed toward the Hps. 

Eyes. — The eyes are orange-yellow, full, 
large, round, and lustrous. 



50 THE CAT 

Ears. — The ears are medium in size, narrow 
and round at the apex, and broad at the base, 
giving them a conical form. They should be 
well set and erect. 

Form. — The body is long and narrow, crested 
by a long, slender, and graceful neck. The 
shoulders are sloped in harmony with the lithe 
body, which, with the shortish legs, gives this 
cat the typical feline gait. 

Tail. — The tail is thicker than that of the 
Tortoise-shell — especially so at the base — 
although some Tortoise-sheU-and- White Cats 
have a rather thin tail. The thick tail is, how- 
ever, preferable. The tail should be marked 
with black, red, and yellow blotches, and not 
white. 

Coat — Color and Quality. — The hair is 
somewhat coarser than in the pure Tortoise- 
shell. More white is allowable in the Tortoise- 
shell-and-White than in the Black-and- White 
Cat. If the white is entirely distinct, with a 
clear line of demarcation between it and the 
black, yellow, and red, as exists between these 
latter colors, a considerable amount of it is per- 
missible, and adds to the beauty of the animal. 



VARIETIES 



51 



There should be no approach whatever to the 
Tabby bauds or the brownisli and grayish 
color of the Tabby. It is a cm-ious fact that 




Fig. 12. — ToRTOiSE-SHELL-AND- White. 

the male kittens from the Tortoise-shell-and- 
White Cat usually come a Red Tabby, or a Red 
Tabby and White. A good strong blaze on 



52 TSE CAT 

the face, four white feet, a white breast — but 
the latter not surrouudiug the neck Uke a 
collar — is very popular, and is called " Dutch- 
rabbit markings." These cats, however, shoidd 
have good, distinct Tortoise-shell markings over 
the back and tail. 

Size and Condition. — The Tortoise-shell- 
and- White is decidedly larger than the Tor- 
toise-shell in size, and is lithe and elegant in 
its motion. It is especially beautifid when 
young, but is apt to become lazy when old — 
the more so the more white there is in its 
markings. These cats are excessively cleanly, 
and vain of their white, spending much of their 
time in keeping themselves clean. 

Tabbies. 

The Tabby is one of the commonest of col- 
ors, and is found in many breeds of the cat; 
and still a very well-marked Tabby is com- 
paratively rare. The Taljbies are divided into 
the Banded Tabbies and the Spotted Tabbies. 
The name of ''Tabby" is derived from "Atab" 
— a street in Bagdad celebrated for the manu- 
facture of its watered or moire silks, which 



VAIilETIES 53 

when sold in England were called '' atabi " oi- 
"taffety"; and from the similarity of the 
stripes of the banded and the brindle cats, the 
latter were called " Tabby," Weir says that in 
the south of England (Norfolk and Suffolk) the 
Tabby is called a Cyprus Cat ; and he found in 
Bailey's Dictionary (1730 a.d.) that "Cyprus" 
was a kind of cloth made of silk and hair, show- 
ing wavy lines on it, and coming from C-yprus. 
Evidently, therefore, the " Taffeta " or " Tal)by " 
indicates the striping, and not the color. 

The Tabby presents numerous vai'ieties in 
color and shade, but may be divided into four 
general classes : 

1. The Brown Tabby. 

2. The Spotted Tabby. 

3. The Blue or Silver Tabby. 

4. The Red Tabby. 

The Brown Tabhij. 

The Brown Tal>by has a ground color of 
a rich, reddish dark brown, with no white, 
and even, regular bars and bands of solid, 
shining black over the face, head, breast, sides, 
back, belly, legs, and tail. The face, legs, 



54 



THE CAT 



breast, and belly should have more of a rich 
red orange tint than the back. The bands 
should be graceful in curve, distinct, and 




Fig. 13. — A Well-marked Tabby. 



clearly defined, so that there is a perfect de- 
marcation in the line between the black and 
the brown, and not mixed and blurred. The 
Banded Tabby should not be spotted in any 
way, beyond a few spots which almost always 



VARIETIES 



55 




Fig. 14. — Badly Marked Tabby (Bands too Broad). 



occur ou the face and sometimes on the fore- 
legs. "The clearer, redder, and brighter the 
brown the better," 



56 THE CAT 

Head. — Not too large ; uot too wide ; rather 
longer than broad. 

Nose. — Deep red, bordered with l)lack. 

Eyes. — Orange, shglitly greemyh in shade. 

Eaes. — Medium. 

Legs. — Rather long, for grace of action. 

Body. — Long and narrow, with deep chest. 

Tail. — Long and tapering. 

Feet. — Black ; black pads and claws, yellow- 
ish white around. 

Black lips and brown whiskers are allowable, 
but orange- tinted are far i)T-cferable, and pure 
white should disqualify. 

A Brown Tabby should be oruii(/i'-])r(ucii. 
The dark l)rownish-gray Tal)bies are simply 
ordinary Tabbies. 

The Spotted Tahhij. 

The Spotted Tabl)y may have au}^ base coloi- 
which is common to the cat. This l>ase color 
may be brown, red, or yellow; but wliichever 
color it is, it must be spotted with black. 
There should be no bands whatever, for when 
these exist it makes a poorly marked Banded 
Tabby. What were lines in the Banded Tab- 



VABIETIES 



57 



by should be interrupted regularly, leaving 
black spots, which in a well-marked Spotted 
Tabby appear in lines, straight, or with grace- 




FiG. 15. — A Spotted Tabby. 



58 THE CAT 

ful curves in the neighborhood of the neck and 
shoiiklers, but always interrupted into spots. 
The spots should be medium in size, and the 
better and more distinctly defined they are the 
better the Tabby. If spots exist on the face 
they are especially valuable. There should be 
no white. The general conformation given for 
the Banded Tabbies applies to the Spotted 
Tabby ; but the nose should be dark red, and 
the ej^es a yellow-orange ; the less greenish the 
better. 

In the Brown Spotted Tabby the pads of the 
feet are always black, and in the Yellow or 
Red Spotted Tabby they may be pink. (The 
spots should not be annulated.) The Spotted 
Tabby is usually a very large cat, a great 
mouser and hunter, a brave animal, well capa- 
l)le of taking care of itself against other cats 
and dogs, and approaches in its general char- 
acteristics in many ways to the Wildcat. 

The Blue or Silver Tahhi/. 

Head. — Its head is small and broad, with a 
long, sharp nose. 

Eyes. — The eyes are orange for the Blue 



VARtETtES 



59 



Tabby, yellow for tlie Silver Tabby, and for 
both should be large, piercingly briglit, and 
lustrous. 




Fig. 16. — A Good Silver Tabby. 

Ears. — The ears are medium or somewhat 
longish. 

Form. — In form these eats have long, nar- 
row, graceful bodies, with long neck and exces- 
sively graceful general contour. 



GO THE CAT 

Tail. — The tail is long, thick at the base, 
curves upward, and should have rings. 

Coat — Color and Quality. — The hair 
should be short, even, smooth, and silky. The 
base color should be a distinct blue or a silver- 
gray striped with black. In the Blue the color 
should be a rich, deej), l)riglit blue ; in the 
Silver very much lighter, but of a very bright 
color. The l)lack bands should l)e jet-black, 
and narrow, clear, and sharply defined. The 
cushions of the feet are always black. The 
Blue or Silver Tabby is usually a much 
smaller animal than the Brown Tabby. 

Tlte 7iW Tahhy. 

Head. — The head is smallish, with the nose 
long and tapering. 

Eyes. — The eyes may be orange-colored or 
yellow in color, but should be deep-set, full, 
round, and lustrous. A beautiful rich yellow 
is perhaps the preferal)le eye. 

Ears. — The ears are medium in length. 

Form. — The form should be long, narrow, 
and graceful, like the Silver Tabby, and, like 



VAEIETIEU (51 

it, it should have a long tail, thick at the 
base, curved upward, and surrounded with 
rings. 

Coat — Color and Quality. — This cat 
should have short, even, smooth silky hairs 
like the Blue Tabby. The cohn- should be of 
a deep, rich, reddish brown, bright red, or 
yellow. The belly and inside of the legs are 
of a brighter ct)lor ; the ears and the nose of a 
deeper color. The l)ands are formed of a rnxwh 
darker red, which, however, should be as dis- 
tinct from the lighter base color of the animal 
as possible : and the rings should l)e especially 
well marked around the throat and chest. The 
Red Tabby should have no white whatever. 
In size it corresponds much to the Brown 
Tabby. 

This cat is an important factor in l>reeding 
Tortoise-shells. In fact, many of the male 
kittens in the litter of a Tortoise-shell are 
Red T!ibl)ies, while the females are Tortoise- 
shells. 

They are good-natured domestic cats, gi*eat 
mousers, and luinters for birds, as they climb 
well 5 and thej' are also expert fishei's. 



62 THE VAT 

White Cats — Short-H aired. 

Head. — Tlie heads of WLite Cats are 
ratlier small, and round above. The forehead 
is broad across and broad between the eyes. 
The nose is rather longish. 

Eyes. — The e^^^es should be blue — that beau- 
tiful soft blue of a good turquoise, or the sky- 
blue of a perfect, clear day. Yellow eyes, how- 
ever, are permissible ; Imt tlie yellow should be 
a clear, rich yellow. Greenish ej'^es are a seri- 
ous defect. The eyes should be large, round, 
full, and soft in their appearance, and should 
be of the same color. Eyes of a different color 
are not allowable, though these we sometimes 
find — one blue and the other yellow, or one 
green with the other of either color. 

Ears. — The ears are medium in size, narrow 
and round at the apex, and broad at the base, 
and are feathered on the inside. 

Form. — The White Cat has a long, narrow 
body, with a long, slender, graceful neck. It 
has a shoulder well sloped, and legs of medium 
length, slender and dehcate, with small round 
feet. 



VARIETIES 



63 



Tail. — The tail should be long, thick at the 
base, and tapering toward the end. It should 
be carried low, almost trailing on the ground. 

Coat — Color and Quality. — The White 




#? 



Fig. 17. — White Short-haired Cat. 



Cat shoiTld have a very short coat, even in 
length, and lying close to the body ; it should 
be of a silky texture and glossy appearance. 
The most choice color is a deUcate yellomsh 
white — sometimes a slightly bluish white. The 
gray-white is a decidedly inferior color. A 



64 THE CAT 

long coat on a Wliite Cat indicates some inter- 
mixture with the Angora. White Cats are sel- 
dom of great size, and they have graceful, easy 
movements, but are not languid. The White 
Cat is of a timid disposition, very fond of pet- 
ting and cuddling; it is quiet in its manners, 
delicate in its temperament, and honest in its 
character. It would niuch prefer to be fed 
from the saucer, and from the table while lying 
on a chair, than to go roaming for prey or 
stealing from the kitchen. White Cats are, 
however, sometimes excellent mousers, and are 
especial pets with millers, as their* color can 
scarcely be seen among the sacks of flour. 
White Cats are very often deaf, and some- 
times 1)lind, without any appearance of organic 
change in the eyes. 

The Albino, which is a wliit*^ cat with pink 
eyes — due to an al^sence of pigment in the iris 
— must not be included in the group of White 
Cats, as it may come from any breed, when 
the absence of color is due to a physiological 
aberration during development. 



varieties 65 

Selp-coloked Cats. 

The Self-colored Cats are those which are 
entirely of one solid color, which may vary 
in its hue or tint, but must not have any 
intermixture of white or of any other color. 
The Self-colored Cats are the Black, the Blue, 
the Red, and the Yellow. Whatever the color, 
it should be distinctive and of a rich lustre. 
The black shoidd be a jet, sliining- black, the 
bhie of a idcli slate or true blue, and tlie red 
and yellow of rich colors. The description of 
the Blue Cat for conformation will suffice for 
all of the Self -colors. 

The Blue C!at. 

The Blue Cat is called the " Maltese " in Amer- 
ica. This cat has been known under various 
names in England. It was first shown as the 
"Archangel Cat," then called the "Russian 
Cat," also the " Spanish Blue" and " Chartreuse 
Blue," and recently has been called the " Amer- 
ican Blue." This latter name is probably due 
to the fact that the Maltese for some years has 
been a very favorite cat in America, and has 



66 THE CAT 

probably been bred more carefully than any 
other breed of cat, so that its representatives 
formed a distinctive t}^e of good quality. 

Head. — The head should be small, broad at 
the forehead and between the eyes, rounded 




Fig. 18.— Blue Cat. 

above, and tapering- to the lips below. The 
nose should be long, and the end of it black. 
Eyes. — The eyes should be : 

Orange-yellow for the Blue Cat ; 
Orange for the Black Cat ; 
Yellow for the Gray Cat ; 
Gold for the Red Cat. 
Ears. — The ears are medium in length, some- 
what pointed. 



VARIETIES 67 

Form. — The Self-colored Cats should have 
a narrow, long body, lithe in appearance, with 
a long and graceful neck on which the head is 
well poised. The legs are medium in length, 
with small round feet. 

Coat — Color and Quality. — The coat 
should be short, with hairs of even length ly- 
ing closely to the body, and silky and glossy, 
with a rich lustre of whatever the color of the 
aniuuxl may be. The Blue should be a rich 
light blue ; and it is decidedly preferable in all 
the Self-colors that the tint should be perfectly 
even over the whole body, and not shade off 
into a lighter one. 

Black-and- White Cats. 

The Black-and- White Cat should have the 
same general couformation, head, set of ears, 
and carriage of tail as has abeady been given 
for the Tabbies. 

Eyes. — The eyes vary somewhat from an 
orange-yellow to a green, or that rich green 
called " sea-gi'een." 

Coat — Color and Quality. — The black of 



68 



TEE CAT 



the top of the head, l)ody, and tail should be a 
dense, bi'ight, rich black, and the white mark- 
ings should be distinctive. It has a white 
nose running- somewhat to a point between the 
eyes, and the white extends down the throat, 




Fig. 19. — Black-and-White Oat. 



forming a shield on the breast. There should 
be no black on the lips. The feet are white, as 
are the pads underneath them. There should 
be a perfectly clear, distinctly curved outline 
at the point of juncture of the two colors. The 
coat should be thick, silky, and glossy. Some- 



VARIETIES 69 

times it is slightly ticked with white, which, 
if it occiu's evenly, is not a serious blemish. 
Black-and- White Cats are usually large, with 
stout legs, and the ankles of the white ones 
somewhat close, which gives them great power 
of movement. According to the care which 
the Black-and- White Oat receives, it tends more 
than any other cat to become fat and indolent, 
or ragged and wretched, as the case may be. 
The Black-and- White Cat is affectionate and 
cleanly, but is a selfish animal, and is not one 
for children to play with. 

The Royal Cat of Siam. 

The Royal Cat of Siam is an odd but rather 
attractive cat, from its gracefid. form, and from 
the peculiar, strikingly marked black head, tail, 
and extremities. 

Head. — The head is small and broad at the 

eyes, but narrow^s above at the forehead. The 

nose is long and broad, the cheeks narrow, and 

the lips full, giving a sort of square appearance 

to it. 

Eyes. — The eyes are almond-shaped, placed 
6 



70 



THE CAT 



at an angle in the head, reminding one exactly 
of those of the Chinese or other Mongolians of 
the human race. They are of a rich opalesqne 
blue, l3nt appear reddish at dusk and at night. 
Ears. — The ears are large and wide, with 
few hairs on the inside. 




Fig. 20. — Royal Cat of Siam. 



Tail. — The tail is short and thin, but should 
be perfectly regular and have no break or kink 
in it. 

Coat — Color and Quality. — The coat is 
short, somewhat woolly, but soft and silky. 
The preferable colors are a dun or fawn color, 
although they are sometimes a silver-gray or a 



VARIETIES 71 

light orange. The entire mask of the face and 
ears and the legs and tail are black. The Royal 
Cat of Siam is a small animal, narrow in the 
body, lithe and gTaceful. The legs are thin 
and short. The neck is long and small, and 
the feet are long. 

The Manx Cat. 

The Manx Cat differs from the ordinary cat 
only in being tailless, or nearly so, the most 
choice families not having any tail at all. If 
they have a short rudimentary tail it should 
be boneless ; but sometimes they have -ishort, 
thin, twisted tails, or tails in the shape of a 
knob. Some Manx Cats, however, have very 
long tails, even ten inches in length. The hind 
legs are proportionately longer and somewhat 
heavy', which gives the cat when running or 
jumping somewhat of the action of a rabbit ; 
but this is more imaginary than real, and the 
supposed similarity is due rather to the char- 
acter of the tail. Most Manx Cats are rather 
smallish, with a head small for their size, set 
on a thick and long neck. The eyes are large, 



72 



THE CAT 



round, and full. The ears are medium-sized, 
rounded at the apex, and hairless within. The 
Manx Cat varies in color, running to Tabbies 
and all the mixed colors. A white Manx Cat 




Fig. 21. — Manx Cat. 



is practically unknown, and black ones are ex- 
cessively rare. The Manx Cat really can be 
classed as a monstrosity, having been devel- 
oped probably by the interbreeding of some 
freak of nature in the form of a cat which in- 
habited the Island of Man at an early period. 



VARIETIES 73 

Au ordinary cat can easily be rendered tail- 
less if operated on at a young age ; and as this 
is often done, especial attention should be paid 
to see that the absent tail is natural and that 
there is no scar as evidence of operati\'e inter- 
ference, or, as such things are called in dog 
shows, ''faking." 



CHAPTER IV. 

CAEE OF THE CAT. 

THE care of the cat is of very inucli more 
importance iu the close surroiindings of 
city life than it is in the country, where the 
animal has as much freedom as the barefooted, 
half-dressed boy who can be trusted to run the 
farm over, and is supposed to be safe whether 
rooting in the garden of vegetables, sunflowers, 
and hollyhocks, playing in the calf -pen, or in- 
vestigating the poultry or pigs. In the country 
the cat has the oj)portunity of finding mice, 
birds, and its feral prey, and can always fall 
back on a goodly feed from the milk-pan of 
the dairy and the rear of the kitchen. It 
breeds as it pleases, and demands little care or 
attention beyond the interest the children or 
housewife take in the kittens which appear 
from some corner, after they are able to run 
74 



CABE OF THE CAT 75 

themselves, and meet a fate of selection, when 
the one or two are to be kept and the rest to 
be di'owned. 

Ill the city and large towns it is different. 
The cat in the environment of civilization must 
be fed, looked after, and guarded in its mo- 
ments of freedom ; and a guide to the care of 
the cat applies rather to city cats than conntry 
ones, except such portions as are needful for 
the finer-bred cats, which require special care 
at all times. 

In towns the cat should wear a collar on 
which the name of the owner is engraved ; 
although there is the serious objection to a 
collar that it breaks the hairs and marks the 
neck. In New York the Society for the Pre- 
vention of Cruelty to Animals is empowered 
with a most satisfactory law for the protection 
of cats and is most liberal in its care of them 
{vide Appendix). 

Housing. 

The cat is an excessively cleanly animal, 
and when housed should be provided with 
means for remaining so. A small box, or — 



76 THE CAT 

what is better, as it can be well washed — a 
galvanized flat pan such as is used for roasting 
meat, should be placed in some well-ventilated 
corner out of sight, and kept filled about an 
inch deep with sand, clean earth, or sawdust. 
Perhaps the latter is preferable, as it can be 
burned. The litter should be changed fre- 
quently.^ 

There should be in some convenient corner 
— near the window, in order to get sunlight if 
possible, at the same time not in a draft — a 
basket kept filled with clean oat straw or with 
flannel. While a flannel cushion looks the 
prettier, clean oat straw, in which the cat can 
turn and roll, allows it to keep its coat much 
cleaner and in better order; but the straw, of 
course, has the disadvantage of getting scat- 
tered over the floor when the animal leaves its 
basket. Wlierever it is possible, the basket 
should be in the sunlight, as cats love to bask. 
The basket and its fiUing must be kept abso- 

1 For an extended and complete desei'iption of the 
housing of cats on a large scale — "catteries" or "cat- 
runs" — see "Domestic and Fancy Cats," by John 
Jennings. 



CABE OF THE CAT 77 

lutely clean. If the animals are at all troubled 
with fleas or other insects, the bedding can be 
sprinkled with a little flowers of sulphiu", which 
will drive them off. 

In cleaning the cat never use a comb ; it 
])reaks the hairs and renders the coat rough. 
Brush the coat well with a soft brush, or with a 
mitten which is known as a bath-mitten. The 
coat of the cat can be improved very materially 
by washing ; but this is difficult unless the ani- 
mal is very tame, and even then can only be 
well done by its absolute owner or an attendant 
of whom it is fond. To wash a cat, make a 
soft soap-sud, comparatively thick ; apply com- 
mencing at the hind quarters and tail, and 
gradually rul) in until the ears are reached. 
After the soap-suds have been thoroughly 
rubbed in, dip the animal, hind feet first, into 
a tub of tepid water, when it can be gently 
patted over with the hand, and then dipped 
into another tub of tepid water, to rinse it off. 
The animal should then be wrapped up in a 
soft bath-towel and the excess of water pressed 
out ; and it should then be put into a basket of 
clean oat straw and kept in a warm jDlace, where 



78 THE CAT 

it \Yill finish the drj'ing and cleaning for itself 
by rolling- in the straw and by licking itself, 
after which it can be brushed with a soft brush. 
For a simpler form of dressing to make the 
coat shiny, the animal can be sponged over 
with a very little perfectly fresh olive or cocoa- 
nut oil, or with a little perfectly fresh cream, 
which is then wiped off with a sponge slightly 
damped, or with a towel, and the animal put 
into the basket of oat straw to clean itself. 

Feed. 

In the country, or in a small house where the 
cat has full freedom of the kitchen and back 
3^ard, very little attention is required in regard 
to feeding, as the animal will pick up from the 
scrajis the very diet which it is best for it to 
have. When cats, however, are kept in closer 
confinement, and in city houses, more attention 
must be paid to their food ; for inattention to 
this is the principal cause of most of the mala- 
dies with which the}^ are affected. In the first 
place, the dishes from which a cat is fed must 
be absolutely and immaculately clean, and at 



CAEE OF THE CAT 79 

each fresh feed should be scalded before they 
are used again. Milk is not only the tradi- 
tional diet of the cat, but also forms one of 
the principal articles of food for it. The milk 
should be perfectly fresh, as sour milk is apt to 
produce digestive troubles, especially diarrhoea. 
Soui' milk, however, is useful sometimes as an 
adjunct in the treatment of worms. While the 
cat drinks a considerable quantity of milk, it 
prefers water when it is really thirsty, although 
it takes only a very small quantity of this. The 
water, hke the milk, should be in an absolutely 
clean pan. There is a very useful pan — which 
can be found in porcelain at the china-shops, 
or can be readily made by a tinner — consisting 
of a pan dixdded in the center by a partition, 
in which the milk is placed at one side and the 
fresh water at the other ; this insures that the 
water is emptied out each time the milk is re- 
placed, in order to clean the j3an and allow it 
to be perfectly fresh. Bread (preferably stale 
bread) and the ortlinaiy crackers, water bis- 
cuit, or oatmeal biscuit, can be added to the 
milk. Spratt's Patent has a cake for cats 
which is verv useful for occasional diet. Oat- 



/ 



80 THE CAT 

meal porridge forms an excellent diet, and 
vegetables should be given from time to time. 
Most cats are very fond of asparagus and cel- 
ery, but will at times eat almost any vegetable. 
In cases of diarrhoea or looseness a little boiled 
rice is a good addition to the milk. There seems 
to be a prejudice on the part of some people 
against the feeding of meat to cats, which is 
unwarranted ; and a cat is better for an occa- 
sional feed of meat — even once a day in small 
quantities. They much prefer it raw, and pre- 
fer mutton to beef. The traditional cat-meat 
of the " cat-meat man," which is knov\^n so well 
in England, is made of horse-flesh, and is a 
wholesome, good food; but the marketing of 
that is practically unknown in America. Fish 
is a very favorite diet with the cat, and can be 
given from time to time ; but the fish should 
be perfectly fresh, as all meat ought to be, for 
putrid meat is much more apt to produce diges- 
tive troubles in cats than it does in the other 
carnivora ; in addition to which, its use by the 
animal gives it an offensive odor in the house. 
In resume, the diet of the cat, with a basis of 
sweet, fresh milk, can be made up of any of 



CABE OF THE CAT 81 

the foregoing articles, if care is only taken to 
insure the absolute cleanliness of the pans from 
which the animal is fed, the good condition of 
the food itself, and that the diet shall be varied. 
Often when a cat has been kept on one diet 
steadily for some time it loses its appetite, and 
appears dumpish, or even ill, when a simple 
change of food will bring it back to itself at 
once. Boiled liver is useful once in a week or 
ten days, or when the cat is a little off its feed, 
as it acts as a laxative. It is not, however, 
good diet for regular use. 

Breeding. 

The period of gestation in the cat varies 
from fifty-six to sixty-three days. The cat 
will breed some three or four times in the 
year, and has a variable number in each litter 
of its kittens — sometimes two or three only, 
and sometimes five or six. A young cat is apt 
to have but two or three at its fii'st pregnan- 
cies, and when it reaches the age of four or five 
years it has a larger number, which diminishes 
asrain as the mother becomes older. Long- 



82 THE CAT 

haired and more highly cultivated cats have 
smaller litters than the common Tabby which 
has the run of the barn and stable. 

The Wildcat breeds twice a year, and has a 
somewhat longer period of gestation — about 
sixty-eight days. 

A female cat, or the "queen" cat, as she is 
called, is usually ready for her first pregnancy 
at six months of age ; but it is not advisable to 
breed her before she is nine months to one year 
of age, as at the earlier period she has not 
attained her gi-owth, and pregnancy is apt to 
stunt her in size. 

The stud cat should not be used until he is 
one or perhaps two years of age ; and he should 
be in perfect condition of health, with a good 
coat on him, when given service. When the 
queen cat gets ready for ser\dce she gives un- 
mistakable evidence of it by her peculiar meows 
and in other ways which are familiar to every 
one. She should be immediately shut up in a 
room or loft where she is inaccessible to any 
cat but the stud who has been chosen for her. 
The period in the " queen " lasts for some four 
to ten days ; but to be absolutely safe it would 



CABE OF THE CAT 83 

be well to extend the confinement to twelve 
days. The tom-cat who has been selected for 
her can be placed in the room with her for a 
period of twenty-fonr lionrs, extending from 
one day over the night until the next day, 
which is quite as satisfactory as if he remained 
with her for a longer j)eriod. The queen cat 
usually becomes sterile at about the age of nine 
years ; but Jennings gives an example where a 
cat had kittens in her nineteenth year. 

The average Hfe of a cat which has been well 
taken care of, and has not met wdth accident, 
is from twelve to fifteen years. The oldest cat 
whose age is authentically known is given to 
be twenty-foiu- years. 

The kittens are born blind and deaf and 
almost absolutely helpless. At the end of 
about nine days their eyes begin to open and 
they are able to use their legs, when they are 
first seen by the public and fit to be handled. 
They can be weaned at the end of the third 
week, Init it is preferable to allow them to re- 
main with the mother for a longer time. If 
any of the kittens are to be destroyed or re- 
moved from the mother, the whole Utter should 



84 TEE CAT 

not be taken at once, but the young ones should 
be removed one or two at a time, which leaves 
the others to gradually diminish the milk-sup- 
ply of the mother. If the whole litter is I'e- 
moved at once the mother is very liable to be 
affected with milk-fever — a severe fever, with 
local inflammation of the mammary glands, 
which may destroy them for future use. 

Kittens lose their temporary or milk teeth 
and acquire their full dentition of permanent 
teeth at between five and seven months of age ; 
so that if a kitten has its entire permanent 
dentition, with the teeth completely out of the 
gums, it can be assumed to be over six months 
of age, and is to be regarded as such by the 
judge at cat shows. 

Gelded Cats. 

The operation of rendering the cat neuter 
is comparatively common, and has many ad- 
vantages for some classes of cats; the cats 
grow larger and lose the strong odors which 
are sometimes offensive in the tom-cat around 
an apartment, and the cats become home bodies, 



CABE OF THE CAT 85 

not liaving the temptation of '^ toms " to wan- 
der into the world. The gelded cat is quite as 
good a monser and is as brave as any other cat, 
although it is apt to become fat and lazy if not 
forced to a certain amount of exercise. The 
operation is usualh' done at about six months 
of age, but if done properly can be done on a 
cat of any age. Female cats are sometimes 
operated upon, but in these the operation is 
attended with considerable danger. 

Transportation. 

In carrying the cat from one location to 
another, or in sending it to and from shows, 
the greatest care must be used to see that the 
case in which the animal is carried is sufft- 
cieutly strong to resist injury from other boxes 
or articles of luggage, and that it is provided 
with proper aii'-holes to insure perfect and free 
ventilation. It should be lined, so that the 
animal will not injure its coat on any rough or 
jagged surface, or on the heads of nails or 
screws which have been carelessly left in it. 
The author has a basket, purchased in Paris, 



86 THE CAT 

in the form of a good-sized hand-bag, built 
with a floor, ends, rear, and top, qnite strong 
enough to prevent breaking, although it is very 
light. This is covered with leather to represent 
a traveling-bag. The front has a wire screen 
which can be dropped and buckled, and this is 
covered by a loose flap of leather similar to 
the rest of the case, which can also be buckled 
down. When closed, ample entrance of air is 
left for ventilation, and the bag has exactly 
the appearance of an ordinary traveling-bag. 
When in a raili"oad-car or elsewhere, the leather 
flap can be lifted up, leaving the cat secure, but 
at the same time allowing it to see its owner or 
be amused with surrounding objects. 



CHAPTER V. 

DISEASES OF CATS. 

Evidence of Disease. 

WHENEVER a cat becomes ill from any 
disease which is more than trivial, 
whether it be a fever, an inflammation of one 
of the organs, or an injury which is somewhat 
serious, it shows that it is ill more decidedly 
than any other animal. It appears more sick 
with troubles of the same severity than do other 
animals. With the commencing illness the cat 
loses its appetite, and seeks a dark corner, 
where it wants to remain out of sight. The 
nose becomes hot, there is inappetence or total 
loss of appetite, the coat becomes dry and 
harsh, and the animal lies quiet, sleeping most 
of the time, unless there is any degree of pain, 
when it gives evidence of it by constant crying. 
At the first symptoms of digestive troubles, 
and even in fevers and other troubles, if the 



88 ISE CAT 

cat can reach a grass-plot it immediately eats a 
quantity of grass, which it swallows and retains 
until the stomach is irritated, producing vomit- 
ing, and acting as a laxative to the intestines. 
This can be considered a natural febrifuge, just 
as one would give a child or a person a little 
nitre or a small dose of Rochelle salts at the 
commencement of an illness. At this time it 
is well to give cats a small dose of Glauber's 
salts or of castor-oil, exactly as one would do 
for a child, or to place a half-teaspoonful of 
bicarbonate of soda or flowers of sulphui* in a 
saucer of milk, and put it with the cat in a 
quiet, darkened room. 

The diseases of cats, like those of other ani- 
mals, are divided into diseases of the respiratory 
system, which include colds, catarrh, bronchial 
troubles and other diseases of the lungs ; dis- 
eases of the digestive system, including those 
of the stomach, the intestines, and the liver; 
constitutional diseases, such as fevers, infec- 
tious distemper, glanders, and eczema; para- 
sitic diseases, such as fleas, mange, and worms ; 
nervous troubles ; and local diseases of the 
eyes, teeth, and claws. 



diseases of cats s9 

Diseases of the Respiratory System. 

Catarrh or Cold. 

A cat may take cold in the head just as a 
baby might do, with inflammatiou of tlie mu- 
cous membrane lining the nose, the pharynx 
or larynx. The symptoms are a discharge 
from the nostrils, more or less difficulty of 
breathing, due to the obstruction of the nos- 
trils, which are filled with matter, and choking 
of the throat, due either to the inflammatory 
condition of it or to the discharge accumulat- 
ing in the throat. In the fonner case pressm'e 
on the throat will produce a spasmodic cough, 
and show that there is a tenderness of this or- 
gan. Simple catarrh is attended with but little 
fever or constitutional disturbances. 

Bronchitis. 

Bronchitis is an inflammation of the tubes 
leading from the lungs to the exterior. In 
this the cough is more violent ; there is a dis- 
charge from the nose and throat, but the 
amount of phlegm is increased after an attack 
of coughing. By auscultation, or examining 



90 THE CAT 

tlie cliest-sounds by tlie ear, mucous rales can 
be heard as the air passes through the matter 
which j)artially fills the bronchi. 

Simple colds and bronchitis do not require 
much treatment. The cat should be placed in 
a quiet, darkened corner, and be protected from 
drafts. It should not have food forced upon 
it, although it should have a small saucer of 
water, in which can be placed a little bicarbo- 
nate of soda or flowers of sulphur, and a small 
saucer of fresh milk, which it can take if it 
wants. It is better to place only a small quan- 
tity of milk at a time, as the owner can then 
judge how much the cat is taking, and there is 
no chance of the milk souring. If there seems 
much fever, a droji or two of aconite can be 
placed in two tablespoonsful of water in the 
saucer, and renewed when the water is finished. 
If there is much inflammation of the throat, a 
dose can be given every few hours of one grain 
of quinine, two drops of fluid extract of bella- 
donna, and five drops of syrup of squiUs, in a 
teaspoonf ul of sweetened water ; and the throat 
and sides of the body can be rubbed with cam- 
phorated oil. 



DISEASES OF CATS 91 

BroncJio-imewnionia. 

Bi'ouclio-pneumonia is the ordinary form of 
pueumouia in tlie cat. It may occur primarily 
after exposure to cold, or it may be the sec- 
ondaiy result of a bronchitis which has lasted 
for some little time. The pneumonia in the 
cat, like that in the dog, is a broncho-pneu- 
monia, or a pneumonia due to filling up of iso- 
lated little lobules in the lung of the animal, 
and differs from the ordinary jjneumonia of 
man and the horse, in which latter the inflam- 
mation invades a whole lobe of the lung. In 
broncho-pneumonia there is more fever than in 
simple bronchitis. The constitutional sjonptoms 
and debility of the animal are more marked, 
with usually a total loss of appetite. On aus- 
cultation, in addition to the mucous rales which 
are heard in bronchitis, we have '^ sibilant" 
rales, or sounds of more or less sharpness, like 
those of a whistle, which are due to the liejia- 
tization or filled-up lobules pressing upon and 
compressing the lumen of the air-tubes which 
lead to lobules of sound lung-tissue. Broncho- 
pneumonia in the cat may also be caused by 



92 THE CAT 

the presence of parasites lodged in the hing- 
tissue and an ii'ritation producing an effusion 
and iilhng the air spaces. ( Vide Parasites, Fig- 
ure 30, p. 125.) This form of broncho-pneumo- 
nia at the outset resembles in its symptoms an 
ordinary broncho-pneumonia, but is to be 
diagnosed later, either by the detection of the 
parasite in the discharge which the animal 
coughs up, or by the fact that the broncho- 
pneumonia does not run its regular course, but 
gets better in a few days, or gets decidedly 
worse, with more lung-tissue filUng up ; and 
that it assumes a chronic form, with the local 
symptoms of sibilant rales to be heard, un- 
changed in size and location, accompanied by 
the absence of the severe constitutional symp- 
toms. 

One finds in certain books a description of 
consumption of the cat. If by consumption 
the authors mean tuberculosis (which the word 
technically does), they are absolutely in error ; 
for tuberculosis is almost an unknown disease 
in the cat, and even by inoculation can only be 
produced in animals which have been rendered 
h^nphatic by a prolonged close confinement. 



DISEASES OE CATS 93 

In the commencement of broncho-pneumonia 
the same treatment can be used as for colds 
and bronchitis. If the disease continues it is 
well to give, in addition, thirt}^ drops of whisky 
or brandy in a spoonful of water several times 
in the day. Should the animal become very 
much debilitated and absolutely refuse to eat, 
it can be given a teaspoonful of a mixture of 
the yellow of one egg beaten up, four table- 
spoonsful of milk, and two teaspoonsful of 
whisky every few hours ; but it is not advisable 
to force food on it except in extreme cases. 
In addition to the milk which is kept at the 
side of the cat, it can be tempted from time to 
time with a small bit of raw beef pounded into 
a pulp, and with a small saucer of the juice of 
the beef, or of the pure beef-juice as it runs 
from a cut of roast beef. 

Diseases op the Digestive Svstem. 

Oastritis. 

Gastritis, or inflammation of the stomach, 
is produced by overfeeding and too frequent 
feeding, or feeding with ii-ritating food, or by 



94 THE CAT 

the ingestion of foreign bodies or poison in the 
stomach. It may also be secondary to consti- 
tutional diseases. 

The symptoms of gastritis are vomiting, first 
of the contents of the stomach, then of a thick, 
frothy mucus, and later, perhaps, of blood. 
The animal shows pain upon pressure on the 
stomach just at the lower border of the last 
ribs, which is more or less severe according to 
the intensity of the inflammation. 

If the cat is in freedom, and is able to get at 
fresh grass, it will itself eat a suflficieut quantity 
to act as an emetic, which affords temporary 
relief. In the house-cat this can be replaced 
by a dose of a strong solution of Glauber's 
salts — a teaspoonful to a quarter-tumbler of 
water — of which several teaspoonsful can be 
given. This will act as an emetic, and a cer- 
tain portion will be absorbed and act as a laxa- 
tive. Should the vomiting continue, and there 
be much pain, give five to ten drops of pare- 
goric, with two or three drops of extract of 
ginger, and a teaspoonful of a solution of 
gum arable and water, and repeat every few 
hours. 



DISEASES OF CATS 95 



Constiiyation and Diarrhoea. 

Constipation is much less frequent in the cat 
than in other animals. On the contrary, there 
is a tendency in the cat, esijecially in the house- 
kept one, to a certain amount of looseness of 
the bowels, which would be looked on in other 
animals as suspicious. When this looseness 
becomes excessive, and the discharges become 
watery, or mixed with mucus, or even bloody, 
it takes the name of diarrhoea. When the 
diarrhoea becomes chronic, or is excessively se- 
vere, it takes the name of dysentery. In this 
case there is usually great straining, with very 
little discharge at each evacuation, and some- 
times proti'usion of the mucous membrane at 
the anus. Diarrhoea is frequently produced in 
the cat by feeding it out of soiled pans in 
which the milk or other food has been allowed 
to ferment. It is produced by irregular feed- 
ing — overfeeding the animal at one time and 
allowing it to starve at another. The use of 
fat meat, of putrid meat, and of too much liver 
or sour milk are also causes. 



9C THE CAT 

Jaundice — Yellows. 

Jaundice, while it is the term frequently 
used to indicate a disease, is only a symptom 
of a disease, as evidenced by the yellow colora- 
tion of the mucous membrane of the eyes, and 
even, in severe cases, of the skin over the sur- 
face of the body and of the discharges. Jaun- 
dice is due to a disease of the liver, which may 
be either a temporary congestion or a chronic 
anatomical change in the structure of the liver, 
which in either case interferes mth the func- 
tion of this organ, and prevents its eliminating 
the bile, which is a waste product of the blood. 
This bile, then, not being carried off by its 
natural emunctory, must find some exit from 
the body, and is carried to the surface of the 
mucous membranes and skin, which are more 
important excretory glands for waste matter 
than they are usually given credit for. In case 
of congestion of the hver, examination of the 
right-hand side of the body, just under and 
behind the last ribs, will show a tumor or 
swelling, and a certain degree of tenderness, 
according to the acuteness of the congestion. 



DISEASES OE CATS 97 

III case of chronic disease of the liver, hyper- 
trophy or cirrhosis, the hver may be enlarged 
or diminished in size. The liver may also be 
affected with hydatids or other parasites, which 
produce similar symptoms. 

In cases of constipation an examination 
should be made of the rectum, and a thorough 
examination of the abdomen should be made 
by manipulating tlie walls until the contents 
can be felt; for constipation in the cat is in 
the majority of cases due to a mechanical ob- 
struction. I have at various times found this 
obstraction to be a bone which has been swal- 
lowed, bits of coal, pebbles, or a button which 
has been swallowed and acted as a nucleus for 
the accumulation of food around it, or balls of 
hair, called segagropila, which have been made 
by the felting of the hair which the cat has 
licked off of its own sides. In one case the ob- 
struction was a small fish-hook, which had passed 
through the entire length of the intestinal tract, 
and had lodged within an inch of the orifice 
of the anus. In this case I judged that the 
point of the hook had been protected during 
its first passage in a bit of hard fish-gill, which 



98 THE CAT 

only had become absorbed, leaving tlie point 
free when it had nearly been passed. If any 
obstruction is found it should be removed, and 
the evacuation of the accumulated matter has- 
tened by a dose of one or two tablespoonsful 
of castor-oil, or a somewhat larger quantity of 
syrup of buckthorn. The intestine of the cat is 
such a simple tube that by caref id. manipulation 
almost any obstruction can be worked do\\ai. 

In case of diarrhoea the diet must be regu- 
lated from the outset. The animal can be 
given, at intervals of two hours, a powder made 
of one-eighth grain of calomel and five grains 
of saccharated pepsin. It should also be given 
small doses (tliu'ty drops to one teaspoonful) of 
syrup of buckthorn, which, ])y stimulating the 
secretion from the surface of the intestine, 
relieves its congested condition. Should the 
diarrhoea be more severe, or become chronic, 
and be mixed with blood, tending to dysen- 
tery, or should the animal seem to be in much 
pain, as shown by its cries, and by tenderness 
upon pressure over the belly, give thirty-drop 
doses of paregoric, with teaspoonful doses of 
the mixture of chalk {Mistura Greta). This 



DISEASES OF CATS 99 

can be repeated every two, three, or four hours, 
according to the continued severity or the sub- 
sidence of the sjanptoms. In chronic eases, 
also, which tend to debiUtate the animal, a half- 
teaspoonful dose of brandy can be added to the 
other treatment. 

In jaundice the calomel must be used in one- 
tenth or one-twelfth grain doses, with a few 
grains of saccharated pepsin, given once every 
hour for a period of twelve or eighteen hours, 
and then followed by a full dose of castor-oil, 
or, perhaps preferably, by a purgative dose of 
sulphate of soda (thirty grains to one table- 
spoonful of water). Then for a day or two keep 
the animal on a moderate diet of milk, with a 
half-teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda in each 
saucer of water ; and at the end of that time the 
calomel can be repeated in the same doses, at 
an hour's interval each, for eight or ten hours. 

Constitutional Diseases. 
Distemper. 

Distemper is a contagious and infectious 
fever of the cat, complicated l)y inflammations 



100 THE CAT 

of the various organs of the body. Distem- 
per is usually a disease of youug cats, which, 
having once had it and having recovered, are 
protected from future attacks. It is, however, 
sometimes seen in older cats, especially so when 
the disease occurs in enzootic or epizootic form. 
Fleming, in his work upon " Sanitary Medi- 
cine," tells us that in the fifteenth century, and 
at several periods later, there were extensive 
epizootics of distemper, which destroyed num- 
bers of cats throughout central Europe and the 
British Islands. The last considerable epizootic 
in England was in 1796. This extended also to 
the Low Countries, or the Netherlands. The 
same epizootic extended to America in 1803. 

The first symptoms of distemper are those of 
fever, with the combination of symptoms which 
are described above under Evidences of Dis- 
ease. These may be more or less severe ac- 
cording to the gravity of the attack. Shortly 
after the commencement of the fever we find a 
watery discharge from the eyes, which may be- 
come mattery later ; a discharge from the nos- 
trils of a thick mucus at first, and matter later, 
which mav even be tinned Avith blood. The 



DISEASES OF CATS 101 

disease may be followed later by any of the 
diseases of the respiratory system or of the 
digestive system, which in their local appear- 
ance are the same as those already described 
under diseases of these systems, but which are 
more severe than they are in their sporadic 
form, because they are grafted onto the body 
of an animal already suffering from fever and 
weakened by it. 

Let it be understood, however, that in cases 
which have been going on for some little time, 
while the present condition of the animal is 
perfectly evident, it is not possible to make a 
diagnosis between these two following con- 
ditions : 

1. A cat which has been infected first with 
distemper, has developed fever, and has the 
complication of a severe broncho-pneumonia 
or of a severe diarrhoea, or is excessively debih- 
tated and weak ; or 

2. A cat which has been affected with a se- 
vere bronchitis and broncho-pneumonia, or a 
severe diarrhoea which is continued for some 
little time, and has produced by the local irrita- 
tion and inflammation a fever which is secon- 



102 THE CAT 

dary, and from which the cat has been weakened 
and is greatly debilitated. 

The conditions to be found upon physical 
examination in these two cases are absolutely 
identical, and the treatment for it is practically 
the same. Suppose, however, that not one cat 
alone, but several, are found in the same house 
or stable in the same condition, or in variable 
degi-ees pointing toward the same disease, or 
that we have from the owner a liistory that 
dm-ing the last few weeks, or for a longer or 
shorter period, other cats have been presenting 
the same symptoms, then we can assume it to 
be distemper. 

Treatment of Distemper. — The cat with dis- 
temper must be isolated at once, and put into 
a quiet room where it is well protected from 
drafts of air, while still supplied with fresh air. 
It should be kept warm. At the outset, before 
the complications become marked, it can have 
a little bicarbonate of soda, or sulphur, in its 
water or milk, and a very light laxative. It 
should never be given an active cathartic, as 
this tends to excite diarrhoea. The catarrh, 
bronchitis, broncho-pneumonia, and diarrhoea 



DISEASES OF CATS 103 

wliich complicate distemper must be treated at 
the outset exactly as the same diseases would 
have been treated in their sporadic form. The 
strength of the animal must be kept up, but do 
not force food unless it is absolutely necessary. 
The local diseases compHcating distemper re- 
quire more stimulating treatment than they 
do in theii" simpler form, and the best stimu- 
lant is small doses of twenty to thirty di'ops of 
whisky or brandy. 

Glanders. 

It is not the place in a book of this sort to 
go into any extended description of glanders, 
as it is rarely found in cats other than in those 
around knackers' yards, in zoological gardens, 
or in the post-mortem rooms of a veterinary 
college ; but practitioners should always bear 
in mind the susceptibility of the feline race to 
this disease. Glanders is a constitutional dis- 
ease accompanied by the formation of tubercles 
over the mucous membrane of the respiratory 
tract and over the skin, which break down into 
ulcers, and of tubercles in the lungs themselves 



104 THE CAT 

and in some of the other organs, which grow 
into small, hard, fibrous tumors. The ulcers 
in the nostrils or on the surface of the skin ex- 
tend and destroy the tissues rapidly, produc- 
ing an offensive discharge. The tubercles of the 
lungs cause broncho-pneumonia, which is usu- 
ally fatal. Glanders, while a disease proper to 
the horse, is contagious to both man and the 
domestic cat, and all the rest of the cat tribe, 
as well as to other animals. 

I have seen a number of lions die in a me- 
nagerie from having eaten glandered meat. In 
the post-mortem house of a veterinary college, 
in which I had just made an autopsy upon a 
glandered horse, as I was washing my hands I 
noticed a cat with a litter of kittens eating at 
some of the organs which I had placed to one 
side for demonstration. I had the cats imme- 
diately locked up, and in four days all of them 
were infected with the disease and liad to be 
destroj'ed. 

There is no treatment, and the animals must 
be immediately destroyed and the greatest pre- 
caution taken in regard to disinfection. 



DISEASES OF CATS 105 



Eczema. 



Eczema is the cutaneous manifestation of a 
constitutional trouble of a gouty nature. Ec- 
zema consists of a In-peremia of the skin, fol- 
lowed by exudation and desquamation of the 
cuticle. The symptoms are rough, dry haii-s 
which become brittle and break off, an oily- 
appearing exudation around the roots of the 
hairs, and dry scabs which, as they peel off, 
leave little ulcerated surfaces. This eruption 
takes place princij)aUy along the Hue of the 
back and at the root of the tail, but in some 
more severe cases may extend to the sides of 
the body, legs, neck, and face. Eczema is 
sometimes called the '^'ed mange," but is to 
be distinguished from the mange, which is a 
parasitic disease, the lesions of which appear 
on the under surface of the body and in tlie 
softer skin of the inside of the thighs. 

Canker of the Ear. 

Canker of the ear is one of the forms of ec- 
zema. It consists of a discharge, at first brown- 



106 J^B^E CAT 

isli, which may afterward become mattery, 
from the inside of the external ear. If this 
contiunes, the delicate skiu lining the ear be- 
comes ulcerated and excessively painful. The 
cat scratches at its ear in attempting to relieve 
the pain, and produces wounds on the ear itself, 
which from constant rubbing and irritation 
become chronic ulcers. 

The cause of eczema is a lymphatic condi- 
tion in the constitution of the animal. Certain 
families are more lymphatic than others, and 
they are predisposed to it. Constant confine- 
ment in the house, want of exercise, and over- 
feeding are the principal exciting causes. 

We also have, however, another form of ec- 
zema which is due to want of nutrition. This 
we sometimes find in young, half-grown kit- 
tens, or cats which have been badly nourished 
or almost starved. 

The treatment of eczema is based, first, 
essentially, upon a strict attention to diet and 
regime. An over-fed cat must be starved — 
a poorly fed eat must be properly noui-ished. 
Diuretics and laxatives in the form of five-grain 
doses of Rochelle salts or Glauber's salts, and 



DISEASES OF CATS 107 

one-grain doses of iodide of potasli can be com- 
bined with tonics. The best of the latter are 
qninine, Huxliam's tincture, and sjTup of wild 
cherry bark. Fowler's solution may be used 
in two-drop doses. Baths of sulphur water 
are beneficial. If there is much irritation an 
ointment of one part bitrine ointment and 
eight parts of lard is soothing and healing. 
In canker of the ear, iodoform as a powder, or 
mixed with balsam of Peru, can be dropped 
into the ear. Once a day the ear should be 
cleansed with a pleget of cotton on a match or 
small probe. 

3fiU-ferer. 

When an entire htter of kittens has been re- 
moved from the mother at once, the accumula- 
tion of milk swells the mammary glands, and, 
if not relieved, cakes, and produces a local in- 
flammation in this organ, which ends with the 
formation of abscesses, and is excessively pain- 
ful. The irritation of this mammitis, as the 
local trouble is called, produces a considerable 
amount of fever, attended with vomiting and 
sometimes diarrhoea. A wound or other injury 



108 THE CAT 

to the mammary glands of a cat who is nursing 
her yoiiug may produce the same disease. 

Milk-fever is to be treated with the ordinary 
remedies for fever, and a local application to 
the mammary glands of belladona ointment, 
alone, or mixed with mercurial ointment. 

Nervous Troubles. 

Convulsions or Fits. 

Convulsions or fits in the cat occur occa- 
sionally. The sj-mptoms vary considerably 
according to the period of the convulsion in 
which the animal is seen, and according to 
the severity of the attack. At the outset the 
animal becomes excited, runs, jumps, and if 
caught, struggles to escape without using any 
special judgment or volition. It may froth 
at the mouth, the legs become rigid, or the 
muscles contract and become relaxed alternate- 
ly in quick spasms. Following this comes a 
period of depression, in which the animal may 
lie in a state of coma, absolutely senseless 
and apparently dead. From this condition it 
may awake to a renewed attack of spasm, or it 



DISEASES OF CATS 109 

may gradually sleep it off, and be apparently 
perfectly well, except somewhat weakened and 
depressed for a short period. Convulsions in 
cats are far more frequent in young animals 
than in old, and are usually due to digestive 
ii-ritation — either that of overfeeding or of 
the ingestion of irritating food. In summer- 
time they are often the result of heat, perhaps 
also at other times from the same cause ; but I 
myself doubt if heat alone is frequently a cause, 
unless combined with an overloaded stomach. 

Epilepsy. 

In epilepsy, with few premonitory symptoms, 
•unless it be a single scream, the cat falls to the 
ground, its mouth frothing, its eyes rolling in 
the sockets until the whites show, the legs 
stretching in spasms, with moments of tempo- 
rary relaxation, and then a complete subsidence 
of the SATuptoms, when the animal falls to sleep 
to wake up apparently unharmed. If the cat 
has frequent attacks it becomes very much de- 
bilitated and loses its vivacity. The diagnosis 
of epileptic attacks from those of ordinary con- 



110 THE CAT 

vulsioiis is based upon tlie absence of delirium 
and the presence of tlie pivoting eyeballs in 
epilepsy. Sometimes in epilepsy the cat may 
bite its tongue or injure its lips against 
the ground in its struggles, when we have a 
mixture of blood with the froth in the mouth. 
The first thing to do for a cat in convulsions 
is to prevent foolish meddlers from scaring it 
to death. Wrap it up at once in a soft cloth so 
that it cannot injure itself. A small dose of 
chloral or laudanum may be useful to quiet the 
attack, but combine this with a full dose of 
castor-oil or sjTup of buckthorn. Bleeding at 
the ear, cold water over the head and body, 
and such measures have been recommended, 
but I prefer a warm, soft blanket. 

Parasitic Diseases. 

Fleas (P. serraticeps). 

Fleas are not nearly as common on cats 
as they are credited with being. The flea 
on the cat is not the same one which affects 
people, and if transferred to man, does not 
remain. They can be readily got rid of l)y 



DISEASES OF CATS 



111 



sprinkliug the cat's basket, or its baek, with 
flowers of sulphur, Persian insect-powder, or 
powdered tobacco, which can then be well 
brushed out; or the cat can be sponged over 




Fig. 22. — Pulex Serraticeps. 
{E}ilar(je(l 30 diameters.)^ 

with a five-percent, solution of carbolic acid. 
Persian insect-powder, however, is the j^refer- 
able treatment. In using it, place the cat on a 
large newspaper, and after brushing the powder 
out, burn the paper and contents, as the flea is 
not killed — only stunned for the moment. 

Mange {Sarcoptiis notocdres, var. Cati). 

The ordinary mange, or sarcoptic mange, is 
due to a small parasite which burrows under 
the skin, where it deposits its eggs, which, upon 



112 TEE CAT 

hatching, become very iiTitatiiig to the skin, as 
the young insects grow and tunnel out to the 
surface, where they breed, for the next gener- 
ation again to burrow and deposit its eggs. 
The sarcoptic mange may appear first on the 
face and sides of the cheek, or upon the insides 
of the armpits and thighs; and it gradually 
extends over the softer skin of the inside of 
the thighs, the under surface of the belly, and 
even, in extreme cases, over almost the entire 
body. The itchiness produced by the mange 
causes the animal to scratch and rub itself, 
which further irritates the skin, producing 
abrasions which scab over; and as the scabs 
are in turn scratched off, thej^ leave irritating, 
bleeding, and ugly ulcers. In severe cases the 
constant irritation and worry to the animal 
cause it to lose its appetite, and it may become 
excessively debilitated and emaciated. The 
cause and effect then become retroactive, as 
the mange will extend more rapidly on a debil- 
itated animal, and the increase of the mange 
increases the debility. 

There are a great many remedies for the 
mange, and it is not so much the choice of the 



DISEASES OF CATS 



113 



remedy to be used as the manner of its applica- 
tion which is efficacious. One of the simplest 
modes of treatment is sulphur ointment. One 
dram of flowers of sulphur to the ounce of 
pure lard should be well rubbed into the skin 




BneJc. Belly. 

Fig. 23. — Sarcoptus Cati (Female). 

and all parts affected, and repeated for several 
days in succession. The skin should then be 
well sponged off with a little soap and tepid 
water, and allowed to remain clean for a day 
or two. The body should then be well brushed 
with a moderately stiff brush, which wiU re- 
move any scabs on the skin, when the ointment 
is to be reapplied for several days. A mixture 



114 THE CAT 

of one pai't of coal-tar, one part of oil of cade, 
aud six or eigiit parts of benzine is an excellent 
remedy, altliongh less cleanly. It sliould be 
applied with a moderately stiff brush daily for 
four days in succession, when the animal should 
be sponged off with tepid water and soap, and 
at the end of two days the application renewed. 
If the animal is much debilitated it can be put 
on a tonic treatment of one grain of quinine in 
thirty drops of whisky three times in the day, 
or upon teaspoonful doses of a mixture of equal 
parts of syrup of wild-cheny bark and Hux- 
ham's tinctui-e. Two-droj) doses of Fowler's 
solution, given three times a day on a little 
piece of cake, bread, or anything which the cat 
will take from the hand, is an excellent tonic. 

Follicular Mange ( Demodex folUculoruin). 

Follicular mange, which is due to a parasite 
called the Demodexfolliculorum, affects the nose 
around the muzzle, the skin of the chin, and 
the skin of the paws surrounding the claws, 
where it burrow^s in beside the roots of the 
whiskers and larger and grosser liairs, and 



DISEASES OF CATS 



115 



into the sebaceous glands. This insect is ex- 
ti-emely irritating, causing the animal to rub 
and scratch. Examination around the roots 
of the whiskers and on the skin of the paws 




Fig. 24. — Hair-follicle and Sebaceous Glands 
Affected by Demodex Folliculorum. 



116 THE CAT 

will show dark-red pimples or pustules about 
the size of a piuhead. This form of mange is 
sometimes difficult to get rid of. It can be 
treated with the preparation of coal- tar and 




Fig. 25. — Demodex Folliculorum. 

{E)ilargcd 100 Diameters.) 

1, The egg; 2, Larva liexapod; 3, Larva octopod. 

oil of cade given above, which must be well 
rubbed in with a stiff brush, and which can be 
alternated every four days by an application of 
mercurial ointment well rubbed into the same 
parts. 

Stomach-worms {Ascarides of the Cat). 
{A. mi/stax, Zeder-, A. felis, Gmelin.) 

The so-called stomach- worm, which is found 
both in the stomach and in the intestines, 
especially of young cats, is a worm from two 
to three or four inches in length, about the 



DISEASES OF CATS 



117 



size -of smaU slate-pencils, pointed at the ends, 
which are somewhat curved. The tail has 
two small membranous wings, with twenty-six 
papiUge on each side, of which five are post- 
anal. The female is somewhat longer than the 




Fig. 26. — Ascaris Mystas. 

a, Male ; h, Female ; c, Anterior extremity ; d, Seen in 

profile. 

male. This species of ascarides inhabits not 

only the intestines of the cat, but those of a 

large number of the savage species of the 

genus Felis. 

The symptoms of the presence of this worm 

are only those of intestinal irritation ; and even 

these may not be present, and the diagnosis 

can then only be made by seeing one of the 
9 



118 THE CAT 

worms wliich lias been passed. The treatment 
consists of diet for twenty-four hours, then a 
good purgative dose of castor-oil. This may 
be preceded by half an hour by a thi-ee-grain 
dose of santonin, and in large cats five drops 
of turpentine may be added to the oil. 

Tapeworm {Tcenia crasskolis). 

The whole of the feline tribe is a frequent 
host of the tapeworm, of which it has a variety 
of its own [Tienia crassicoUs). The worm is 
from six to twenty-four inches in length. It 
has a large head, set on a narrow neck. The 
head is provided with a crown of from twenty- 
six to fifty- two hooks — frequently only thirty- 
four in numl)er. The body is made up of a 
series of segments or rings, as can be seen in 
the illustration (Figure 27). The tapeworm in- 
habits the small intestine of the cat, the head 
remaining fastened to the mucous membrane 
of the intestine, while the body floats off in the 
soft contents. The end of the tail, or various 
portions of the body, break away from time to 
time, to be carried to the exterior to develop 
into fresh foci of infection. As the body breaks 



DISEASES OF CATS 



119 



away from the tail, it keeps growing from tlie 
head. lu its vesicular form the tapeworm is 




Fig. 27. — T.5:nia Crassicolis. 

found in the livers of rats and mice, which, 
when they are eaten Ijy the cat, again infect 



120 THE CAT 

it. Tlie tapeworm, unless existing in quanti- 
ties, causes little irritation. What symptoms 
do exist are those of intestinal ii-ritation — occa- 
sional bloating or swelling up of the belly of 
the animal, and sometimes emaciation. The 
d iagnosis can only be accurately made by recog- 
nizing the segments of the worm which are 
carried away with the faeces, and which appear 
as small oblong whitish masses, sometimes 
single or sometimes connected together. 

The treatment consists of putting the cat 
upon an absolute diet for twenty-four hours; 
then give, according to the size of the animal, 
from ten to twenty grains of powdered areca 
and two to four grains of santonin. This can 
readily be given in a saucer of milk, which the 
animal willingly swallows, having been starved 
for a day. The powder is to be followed in 
two hours by a full dose of castor-oil, to which 
a few drops of turpentine or a few grains of 
jalap might be added. 

Ringivorm {Tinea tonsurans). 

Ringworm in the cat appears in the form of 
little round spots from the size of a ten-cent 



DL'iEASL'S OF CATS 121 

j)iece to the size of a quarter-dollar. Some- 
times the various spots run into each other 
and form ii-regular-shaped spots, the edges of 
which, however, alwa^^s assume the rouuded 
form. In these spots the hairs are broken off, 
leaving little bristling points only protruding 
from the roots. The surface of the skin itself 
is covered by a furfuraceous scab, which, if 
peeled or rubbed off, shows a slight exudation 
beloAV. If not attended to, the disease keeps 
spreading to new parts of the body as fast as 
the older spots heal. Ring^vorm is due to a 
vegetable parasite known as TricJiojjJiijfon ton- 
surans. The cat is probably one of the most 
common sources of the propagation of this 
disease to the human being, especially children. 
The cat in turn probably, in the majority of 
cases, contracts the disease, not from others of 
its own kind, but from sewer-rats which are 
caught as prey. 

Some years ag'o, while I had charge of the 
dispensar}' of the Children's Hospital at Phila- 
delphia, I collected a large number of statistics 
in regard to the children who came to the hos- 
pital with ringworm. They, of course, repre- 



122 THE CAT 

sented the poorer classes. Invariably I found 
that the patients had in the house a cat which 
they played with 5 and I verified the origin by 
examining their cats and finding them affected 
with the disease. A cat with ringworm should 
be isolated for a few days from the children 
and from other cats, until the spots have been 
well rubbed mth mercurial ointment for sev- 
eral days in succession. Then the animal 
should be watched daily for the next week or 
two for the appearance of fresh spots, which 
should be treated with mercurial ointment the 
instant they apj)ear. 

Trichina {Trichina spiralis). 

Trichina is not a rare parasite in the cat, 
but its diagnosis is excessively difficult. The 
Trichina spiralis, in its vesicular form, is found 
in the rat and in the hog, the flesh of both of 
which aidmals, of coui'se, is common food for 
the cat. When eaten, the parasite wakens into 
life, develops into the little worm which is seen 
in the figure (Figure 28), and mixes with the 
contents of the stomach and intestines. For- 



DISEASES OF CATS 123 

tunately these frequently develop irritation, 
which produces a diarrhoea in the animal, and 
the majority of them are carried off. But in 
other cases some of the worms pierce the in- 
testines and travel into the muscles of the body. 





Male. Female. 

Fig. 28. — Trichina Spiralis. 

If they exist in small numbers, appreciable 
symptoms are not visible. If, however, they 
invade the muscles in large quantities, they 
produce pains which reseml)le greatly those of 
rheumatism, and they may produce a fever 
lasting for a few days. The invasion, if exces- 
sive, may produce death. In other cases the 



124 THE CAT 

worm becomes encysted in the cat's muscles 
(Figure 29), and produces no after-effect. The 
diagnosis can only be made by a recognition of 




Fig. 29. — Trichinae Encysted in Muscular Tissue, 

the parasite. In the human being suspected 
cases of trichina-poisoning have been verified by 
harpooning small bits of muscles from the sore 
arm or leg of the patient, and demonstrating 
the presence of the parasite by the microscope. 



DISEASES OF CATS 



125 



Cause of Parasitic Bronclio-imeumonia. 
( Vide page 92.) 




Fig. 30. — Strongylus Pulmonis. 

a, h, Eggs segpienting ; c, Egg with embrj'-o ; d, Embryo 

free. 

The Eyes. 
In all fevers, distemper, and other grave 
troubles, the eyes of the eat become congested 
and water somewhat, or become filled with a 
mucous or mattery discharge which glues the 
lids together. If this becomes excessive or 
chronic there may be an inflammation of the 
conjunctiva — the mucous membrane hning the 
eyelids and covering the eyes — which produces 
raw lids. In any simple trouble of the eyes 



126 THE CAT 

they should be well washed with tepid water 
or tepid water aud milk, aud have a few drops 
of a solution of one-half grain of the sulphate 
of atropia, one and a half grains of the sulphate 
of zinc, and one ounce of rose-water put in 
them several times a day. 

From an excessive conjunctivitis, or from 
injury from a scratch or blow on the eyeball 
itself, we may have an inflammation of the 
cornea, which clouds the eye over with a large 
white spot (keratitis). This, if attended to at 
once, is usually not serious, although it may 
be followed by ulceration of ihe cornea, which 
allows the escape of the humor of the eye. 

Cataract, or inflammation of the crystalline 
lens of the eyes, followed later by a deposit of 
calcareous matter in the lens, sometimes occurs. 
In this case the front of the eye is entirely 
clear, while a frozen, snowlike mass can be 
seen through the pupil, which is chronically 
dilated. 

Wounds and traumatisms to the eyelids and 
the eye itself present the same symptoms and 
require the same treatment that similar injuries 
would in other animals. 



DISEASES OF CATS 127 

The Teeth. 

As we have seen before, the young cat has 
tweiit}^-six teeth, which it changes at about 
six months of age for thirty permanent ones. 
This change of teeth is frequently attended 
by considerable irritation of the gums, and 
pain, which interferes with the animal's eating, 
and may cause some little fever or produce 
a slight diarrhoea. It also gives the breath 
of the animal an offensive odor. The mouth 
should be examined, and any teeth which are 
loosened should be picked out with a pair of 
forceps, and the mouth sponged out with some 
listerine, which can be done by tying a small 
sponge on the end of a stick, or by using a 
large camel's-hair brush. 

In old cats, as the teeth become worn, and 
especially in cats which are constantly fed with 
soft food and do not have an opportunity of 
rubbing their teeth clean by catching natural 
prey or using them on hard substances, there 
occurs a deposit of tartar around the roots of 
the teeth, which causes ulceration of the gums, 
and sometimes necrosis of the jaw-bone itself. 



128 THE VAT 

This is veiy painful, interferes witli the ani- 
mal's eating, and produces an offensive odor. 
The mouth should be very carefullj^ examined ; 
any loosened teeth should be pulled, and the 
others should be cleaned with a small scraper. 
The gums should then be well washed with lis- 
terine. Such a mouth cannot be cured rapidly, 
but requires attention every week or two for 
some little time. 

The Clamps. 

The claw^s of tlie cat are, as we have seen, 
protected, when not required for use, by being 
di'awn back into the sockets, which are pecu- 
liar to this class of animals. This protec- 
tion keeps the points of the claws perfectly 
sharp for catching their prey ; for if they pro- 
truded as \h.ej do in the dog, they would be- 
come worn off and be as dull as those of the 
latter. The claws sometimes get injured by 
being broken when seizing rough objects, or 
from accidents, which renders them excessively 
sore. If the nail only has been loosened, it 
should be trimmed off carefully, and a little 



DISEASES OF CATS 129 

balsam applied to the uncovered bone, which 
will soon grow a new claw. If, however, the 
bone has been injured, and has become nec- 
rosed, it should be removed. In injuries of 
this sort, when the bone is aifected, the sooner 
it is attended to the better. If only the extrem- 
ity of the bone is diseased, it can be scraped off, 
and will heal rapidly ; whereas if the necrosis 
has extended to the joint, and has imphcated 
the elastic ligament, healing is difficult, and 
amputation may have to be performed as high 
as the second joint. 



POISONS. 

Cats are subject to mineral poisons given 
them intentionally, or left carelessly lying in 
corners mixed with food intended for rats, 
which the cat gets at accidentally. The usual 
mineral poisons are arsenic or rat-poison. The 
cat may also be poisoned from verdigris and 
salts of copper, which form on the surface of 
improperly cleaned kitchen-utensils left with 
food standing in them, which the cats eat. 
Mineral poisons produce irritation of the stom- 



130 THE CAT 

ach, violent pain, vomiting, and, if they do not 
prove fatal, diarrhoea at a later time. Fortu- 
nately they do usually produce vomiting, so 
that the animal gets rid of the excess of poi- 
son; and this indicates the treatment, which 
should be at once an active emetic, consisting 
of one-half teaspoonful of mustard in a little 
warm water, or a saturated solution of Glau- 
ber's salts in warm water, given in as large 
quantity as possible, and repeated until violent 
vomiting is produced. The after-treatment, if 
the animal is left debilitated, consists of stim- 
ulants, with the white of an egg, or a solution 
of starch, to allay the irritation. 

Strychnine poisoning frequently occurs from 
the same intention or accident by which cats 
are poisoned with mineral poisons. The symp- 
toms of strychnine poisoning are a characteristic 
spasm. The cat gives a cry or two, and lies 
stretched out, with the head and neck thrown 
back, the hind legs extended rigidly, and the 
forelegs drawn down by the side of the body. 
Cases of strychnine poisoning, if recognized at 
once and treated immediately with large doses 
of chloral hydrate — especially if the latter 



DISEASES OF CATS 131 

can be given by injection with a hypodermic 
syringe — in a large number of cases can be 
saved. The chloral can be given in poisonous 
diseases as high as ten or twenty grains or 
more the first dose, and ten grains every half- 
hour. 

ADMINISTRATION OF MEDICINE. 

In well-broken cats fond of theii* owner the 
administration of medicine is sometimes an 
easy matter ; but again in equally well-broken 
and affectionate animals it is an excessively 
difficult matter. 

In pill or powder form the substance used 
can sometimes be inclosed in a small piece of 
meat or other food, which the animal will read- 
ily swallow. Again, however, the cat becomes 
excessively suspicious of the faintest odor of 
medicine, and after taking it once or twice 
will refuse it. Liquid medicine — which should 
never exceed a teaspoonful dose if it can be 
helped — must be poured into the mouth. At 
the outset it can be tried if the cat will take its 
medicine without contention. Place the cat on 
a table , pat it gentl}^ until, with one hand, the 



132 THE CAT 

head can be grasped from behind so that the 
thumb covers the jaw on one side, the second 
finger the jaw on the other side, and the first 
finger hes on top of the head between the 
ears. The third finger of the hand covers the 
jaw underneath. The head should then be 
gently raised, the thumb and second finger 
draw the commissures of the lips gently back- 
ward until they make a pocket on one or the 
other side, into whicli the liquid can be poured. 
It is not necessar}^ to open the jaw itself, as the 
liquid will run through the teeth. 

In many cases, however, more stringent 
measures are required, and the cat must be 
held so that it cannot bite or scratch. The 
simplest method, which is all that is requu-ed 
in some eases, and for the operation of castra- 
tion, is to have an attendant take the cat by 
the loose skin of the neck and over the shoul- 
ders with one hand, and by the skin from the 
pelvis or croup with the other hand. Then 
place it upon a table and press down until the 
breast-bone in front and the under surface of 
the pelvis behind are held firmly against the 
table. It is then impossible for the cat to use 



DISEASES OF CATS 133 

either its fore or liind legs to scratch, or for it 
to twist its head to bite, and the second person 
can examine the mouth and administer medi- 
cine or operate. Absolute care must be taken, 
however, that no pressure is put upon the ribs, 
or the chest itself, or upon the belly of the 
animal, as carelessness in this point may stop 
the respiration and prove fatal. If more com- 
plete contention is required — as it is for opera- 
tions which last for any length of time, or for 
any very obstreperous animals — the cat should 
be wrapped in a sack of cloth or soft leather, 
or of india-rubber. Where a large number of 
cats are handled, it is well to have a sheet of 
leather such as a blacksmith uses for his apron, 
with a ^hole in the centre just large enough to 
admit the head of the cat. This is drawn over 
the head, and the corners of the leather are 
carefull}'- folded along the line of the body into 
an oblong sack, which must be firmly held. 
Care must be taken to draw the forelegs back- 
ward along the side of the body, and hold them 
so, firmly, as the neck of the cat is smaller than 
its head, and after being drawn over the head 

the hole in the leather will admit of the protni- 
10 



134 THE CAT 

sion of the cat's forelegs, and the animals are 
great adepts at getting the forelegs out unless 
especial care is taken. 

ANESTHETICS. 

Anesthetics, especially in the shape of 
chloroform and of ether, are frequently ad- 
vised for operations on cats. Unless abso- 
lute immobility of the animal is required for 
the success of the operation, I do not like the 
use of anesthetics. To begin with, even care- 
f idly given, they are dangerous. I have found 
that animals to which I have given an anes- 
thetic are more afraid of me afterward than 
those which I have simply had held properly 
and produced pain upon. The pain they un- 
derstand as done for their good; the use of 
the anesthetics they do not understand. For 
many operations, however, it is perfectly per- 
missible to use a preliminary injection of co- 
caine, which annuls the pain in a local part. 

DESTROYING CATS. 

We are unfortunately frequently obliged to 
destroy cats for economic reasons, or for 



DISEASES OF CATS 135 

humane reasons, to prevent suffering in ani- 
mals which cannot get well. In large institu- 
tions, like the Home of the American Society 
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, they 
have tanks containing carbonic acid, which 
puts the animal to sleep and death painlessly. 
Drowning is an equally quick and painless 
death, if done properly ; but care must be taken 
that the animal is quickly and totally immersed 
in water, and not allowed to reach the sui-face 
for a single instant for a gasp of air. By this 
method, undoubtedly, the animal has one mo- 
mentary shock, and an attempted gasp, when 
formation of carbonic acid in its own brain 
puts it to sleep and renders it unconscious be- 
fore even death takes place. 

Poisoning by strychnine or arsenic is cruel, 
as it produces considerable pain before death. 
Strong prussic acid generally produces imme- 
diate death; but it is difficult to administer, 
and in some cases it fails absolutely. 

In the hands of an expert, while it has the 
appearance of brutality, a ball from a pistol, 
or a properly administered blow with a ham- 
mer on the skull, produces instantaneous and 



136 THE CAT 

painless death ; but these methods should not 
be adopted by any one whose experience does 
not warrant him in doing it properly, com- 
pletely, and at the first attempt. 

Chloroform in the hands of a novice is per- 
haps the simplest method, if he use the follow- 
ing precautions : 

Take a box or large pail with a cover which 
can be firmly closed ; use plenty of chloroform 
(at least two to four ounces) ; place the cat 
in the receptacle; poui* the chloroform on a 
sponge, and drop it in beside the cat; place 
the cover on and hold firmly in place for some 
time. In this way the only annoyance to the 
cat is probabty its first moment of fright, and 
the single gasp or two which it makes for fresh 
air before the chloroform has commenced to 
act. 



CHAPTER VI. 

ETYMOLOGY AND SYNONYMS. 

THE word "cat" comes from a root of un- 
known origin; but undoubtedly it is 
almost identical with the original Aryan word 
which was used fpr this animal, as we find a 
close sinnlarity tlii'oughout all the Aiyan lan- 
guages in the euphony and terseness of tho 
Avord. 

English, cat. 

Gnmallin, an old cat, especially a she-cat. 
Pk.ss)/, a pet name for the cat. (The word 
" puss " indicates a hare, as well as a cat.) 
Anglo-Saxon, cot. 
Old Anglo-Saxon, catt. 
Danish, laf. 
Swedish, Ji-att. 
Icelandic, l-offr. 
Irish, cat. 
Welsh, cath. 

137 



X38 'J^HE CAT 

German, Mtze, Jioter. 

Old German, cJiazza. 

Latin, cafus. 

French, chat 

Italian, gatto, feminine gatta. 

Spanish, gato. 

Greek, ^atxa. 

New Greek, yxzza. 

Russian and Polish, kot 

Armenian, Icaz. 

Tiu*kish, I'edL 

Ai'abic, qitt. 

EMBLEMATIC SIGNIFICATION OF THE CAT. 

The figure of the eat has certain significa- 
tions when reproduced in art. 

In the hieroglyphics of the ancient monu- 
ments of Egypt a eat represents false friend- 
ship, or a deceitful, flattering friend. 

In heraldry a cat is an emblem of liberty, 
because it naturally dislikes to be shut up ; and 
therefore the Burgundians, etc., bore a cat on 
their banners to intimate that they could not 
endure ser\'itude. 



ETYMOLOGY AND SYNONYMS 139 

It is a bold and daring creature, and also 
eruel to its enemy, and never gives over till it 
has destroyed it, if possi))le. It is also watch- 
ful, dexterous, swift, pliable, and has good 
nerves — thus, if it falls from a place never so 
high, it still ahghts on its feet — and therefore 
may denote those who have such forethought 
that whatsoever befalls them they are still on 
then* guard. 

In coat-armor the cat must always be repre- 
sented as fuU-faced, and not showing one side 
of it, but both its eyes and both its ears. 
Argent three cats in pale sahle is the coat of the 
family of Keat of Devonshire. 

In recent years it has become the emblematic 
animal of newspaper ofl&ces and the editor's 
chair. 



APPEI^DIX. 



I HAVE appended (Table A) a reduced form 
of entry as used by the National Cat Show, 
and (Table B) a classification of the divisions 
which they make of the various cats. It will 
be seen that there is, first, a distinct division 
into the Long-haired Cats and the Short-haired 
Cats ; second, that there are four divisions into 
He-cats, She-eats, Gelded Cats, and Kittens. 
This, it will be seen, gives eight general divi- 
sions — Long-haired Cats divided according to 
sex and age, four ; and Short-haired Cats di- 
vided according to sex and age, four. The 
third division is made by color, which consists 
of two classes of Tortoise-shell, one with and 
one without white; three classes of Tabbies 
divided according to the base color; Black- 
and- White Cats ; cats of a solid color ; and one 
141 



X42 APPENDIX 

class for cats of a coloi* not defined in the pre- 
ceding. Care must be taken that a cat is 
entered in its own proper class, because any 
carelessness in entering disqualifies a cat abso- 
lutely in that class, although it may be a mag- 
nificent animal, and if placed in its own class 
would easily win. 

In Table C are given the Comparative Points 
of Judging recommended by Mr. John Jennings, 
which table is too extended for use except by 
an expert ; but it readily shows the important 
points of value to be attached to the various 
parts. It wiU be seen that, to begin with, the 
length of the fur, the quality of the fur, and 
the frill, or those wavy crests of hair at points 
of juncture where the fur lies in opposite di- 
rections, are most important ; second, that the 
color of the coat (which means the richness and 
purity of its coloring) and the tail (which in- 
cludes size and carriage) are given about equal 
importance. The eyes, again, are given con- 
siderable importance, especially in the White 
and Self-colored Cats. 

Table D gives the very excellent statute of 
the State of New York, which was procured 



AFP END IX 143 

by the efforts of the Society for the Prevention 
of Cruelty to Animals, and which has placed the 
care of animals under the control of the society. 
This has done away with the abominable and 
brutal muzzles which the law previously re- 
quu*ed for dogs, and has made owners much 
more careful in registering their dogs, and in 
not countenancing waifs in dogs or cats, which 
are always subject to careless inattention or 
positive cruelty. As we go to press, a bill has 
just passed the Assembly at Albany extending 
the provisions of this statute to the city of 
Brooklyn, and has also extended the powers 
of the society. 



144 



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APPEXDIX 



145 



TABLE B. 
Classification of Cats at the National Cat Show, 
by subouuek. by sex and age. by bkeed or vakiety. 



LoDg-haired.Asi- 
atic or Eastern 
cats (Persians, An- 
goras, Russians). 



Hecate. 



n. 



She-cats. 



n. 

Short-haired, 
European or West- 
ern Cats (Ordinary 
European Cats) . 



in. 



Gelded cats. 



IV. 

Kittens over 
three months 
and under six 
months of age. 



Tortoise-shell. 
Color to he red, 
yellow, and black ; 
no white. 

Tortoise-shell- 
and-White. 

Color to be red, 
yellow, black, and 
white. 

Brown or Dark 
Gray Tabby. 

Color to be rich 
brown or dark 
gray, sti'ipert or 
spotted with black; 
no white. 

Silver or Blue 
Tabby. 

Color to be sil- 
ver gray or blue, 
striped or spotted 
with black ; no 
white. 

Red Tabby or Red 
Tabbvand White. 
Color to be red- 
dish or sandy, 
striped or spot- 
ted Avith darker 
sandy and white. 

Black or White. 
Color to be en- 
tirely black or en- 
tirely white (Mal- 
tese). 
Blue or silver 
solid color, with- 
out white (Mal- 
tese). 

Any other Vari- 
ety. 

Color to be any 
hue not specified 
in the foregoing 
classes. 

Manx cats, any 
color or sex. 



14G 



APPENDIX 



TABLE C. 
CoMPAUATivE Points.— Value of Long-haired Cats. 



U S _■ 



a 



> 20.. 16.. 12.. 12.. 12..- 



Any Self-color ex- 
cept Wliite 

White 20. .15. .12. .12. .10. .— . 

Tabbies, any Color. ...15.. 10.. 10.. 10. .15. .15. 



w 


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S 


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H 


5 


.8. 


. 5 


.10. 


.100 


5 . 
5 


.10. 

. 5 . 


.6 . 
.5 


.10. 
.10. 


.100 
.100 



Comparative Poi:ts.— Value of Short-haired Cats. 



VARIETY. I -a 

o a So 

Tortoise-ehell 30 . . 20 . . 10 

. ( Black 30 .. — .. 20 

^ £ WWte 25 .. — .. 15 

% 2. < Blue 35 . . — . . 15 

Tortoise-sliell- (on on m 

and-White 5 • • 20 • • 10 

Silver Tabby 25 . . 25 . . 10 

Red Tabby 30 . . 20 . . 15 

Brown or other ( .,„ „-. , ^ 

Sti-iped Tabby , ^ ^o • -!" • y lo 

Spotted Tabby 25 . . 30 . . 10 . 

Any Variety 

Color, White J. 20 .. 30 .. 15 

Markings 



10 
15 
20 
20 



10 . . 100 
10 . . 100 
10 . . 100 
10 . . 100 

10 . . 100 



100 
100 

100 

100 



Comparative Points.— Value of Other Distinct Varieties. 

MANX. 



Self-color 30 . . 20 . . 20 

With Markings . . . .30 . . 10 . . 20 



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10 . 


. 10 . 


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. 5 


. 10 . 


. 100 



APPENDIX 147 

TABLE D. 
LAWS 1894, CHAPTER 115. 

Approved by the Governor, March 8, 1894. 

An Act for the Better Protection of Lost and 
Strayed Animals, and for Securing the Rights 
OF THE Owners Thereof. 

Tlte People of the State of New YorJi, represented in 
Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : 

Section 1. Every person who owns or harbors one 
or more dogs within the corporate limits of any city 
having a population of over twelve hundred thousand 
shall procure a yearly license for each animal, paying 
the sum of two dollars for each one, as hereinafter 
proAdded. 

Sec. 2. Licenses gi-anted under this act shall date 
from the first day of May in each year, and may be re- 
newed at the expiration of the term by payment of one 
dollar for each renewal. 

Sec. 3. Each certificate of license or renewal shall 
state the name and address of the owner of the dog, 
and also the number of such license or renewal. 

Sec. 4. Every dog so licensed shall at all times have 
a collar about its neck, with a metal tag attached thereto 
bearing the number of the license stamped thereon. 

Sec. 5. Dogs not licensed pursuant to the provisions 
of this act shall be seized, and if not redeemed within 
forty-eight hours may be destroyed or otherwise dis- 
posed of, as hereinafter provided. 

Sec. 6. It is further provided that any cat found 
within the corporate limits of any such citj' without a 
collar about its neck bearing the name and residence of 
the owner stamped thereon may be seized and disposed 
of in like manner as prescribed above for dogs. 



148 APPENDIX 

Sec. 7. Any person claiming a dog or cat seized 
under the provisions of this act, and proving ownership 
thereof, shall be entitled to resiune possession of the 
animal on pajTnent of the sum of three dollars. 

Sec. 8. The Amei*ican Society for the Prevention of 
Cruelty to Animals is hereby empowered and author- 
ized to carry out the provisions of this act, and the said 
society is further authorized to issue licenses and re- 
newals, and to collect the fees for such, as is herein 
prescribed, which fees are to be used by said society 
toward defi-aying the cost of carrying out the provisions 
of this act and maintaining a shelter for lost, strayed, 
or homeless animals. 

Sec. 9. Any person or persons who shall hinder, 
molest, or interfere with any officer or agent of said 
society while in the performance of any duty enjoined 
by this act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, 
and upon conviction shall pay a fine of not less than 
twenty-five dollars nor more than one hundred dollars, 
or be im^jrisoned for not less than ten days nor more 
than thirty days, or be punished by both fine and im- 
prisonment. 

Sec. 10. None of the provisions of this act shall ap- 
ply to dogs owned by non-residents passing through the 
city, nor to dogs brought to the city and entered for 
exhibition at any dog show. 

Sec. 11. The thirtieth subdivision of section eighty- 
six of chapter foiu* hundred and ten of the laws of eigh- 
teen hundred and eighty-two, entitled " An act to con- 
solidate into one act and to declare the special and local 
laws affecting public interests in the city of New York," 
and all other acts and parts of acts inconsistent with 
the provisions of this act, are hereby repealed. 

Sec. 12. This act shall take effect immediatelv. 



t! 



